The History of Normal
by TheSuburbanSprite
Summary: "For those who look completely and utterly normal on the outside, yet are wholly different and inflicted on the inside, the world is an ever-circumscribing corridor." Sasuke has a chronic condition, which Naruto wants to help him come to terms with, all whilst they struggle through their A-Levels. Narusasu. AU Modern Day.
1. Chapter 1: Pillboxes

Hi Chaps and Chapettes!

My first ever fanfiction, woo...

I am sorely not talented or rich enough to own any of the copyrighted goods in this piece! They all belong to the respected owners.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 1

Pillboxes.

For those who look completely and utterly normal on the outside, yet are wholly different and inflicted on the inside, the world is an ever-circumscribing corridor. Existence is a frustrating struggle and dangerous, yet stifled with the pressure of envisioned obligation and convention.

Deep within an English town, ten minutes west of Knebworth, one such person lived. Eighteen-year-old Sasuke Uchiha didn't look like any kind of irregularity; laying awkwardly on his mattress with his sheets twisted around his ankles, still dressed in yesterday's wrinkled clothes and breathing shallowly in slumber. However, deep within Sasuke's brain, fired a thousand many-armed abnormalities. To look into his handsome face, it would be impossible to guess that beneath all of that smooth eggshell skin, sputtered and failed trillions of defunct synapses.

Sasuke could walk like a regular person. He could talk like one too. He was the perfect emulation of normal. However, Sasuke's brain was broken. Sasuke was epileptic. He was not normal.

"Sasuke, it is nine 'o' clock!" Mikoto's bellow galvanised Sasuke into life and he lurched sideways off his bed. "That is, if you're still planning to get any A-Levels," she continued to rant hotly from downstairs. How her temper could permeate Sasuke from such a distance, he didn't know, it really was a talent of his mother's.

Groaning from the floor, he fought to untangle himself from his duvet. His hand connected with cool glass as he struggled upright and a furious hissing made him recoil.

"Sorry Aoda, mate," Sasuke said breathlessly, as the snake thumped his mauve coils testily against the glass front of his tank.

"Sasuke!"

"Alright! I'm awake!"

By the time Sasuke arrived in the kitchen, his whole family had congregated there. His mother was nestled in a nook of kitchen counter-tops, waffling animatedly to no one in particular as she fussed over the coffee percolator. His father was sat at the rectangular, chrome topped table, rustling papers. Fugaku was to be seen eternally shuffling and pouring over papers; be it spreadsheets, contracts, water bills, or even the Daily Mail. The man's kryptonite was the shredder. Finally, sat Sasuke's older brother, Itachi Uchiha.

Itachi sat opposite Fugaku staring intently into the dregs of his cornflakes like they might reveal his fortune. He was wearing a grey herringbone suit, complete with maroon handkerchief, periwinkle blue shirt and navy tie. Sasuke's brother had always been rather stiff and uptight, but today he oozed a new level of anal pomposity. Itachi must have felt Sasuke watching him, because his eyes moved to his younger brother. They travelled immediately, as Sasuke could have predicted, to the sunglasses propped on Sasuke's head; ready and waiting for when Sasuke's hungover eyes had to face the sunlight. A grimace rent Itachi's well-groomed face and Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Looking remarkably snappy today, Itachi," Sasuke drawled as he reached for the coffee and a mug, "Are they genuine wool slacks? Wow, I'm jealous, and here I am in jeans," Sasuke clucked his tongue, narrowing his eyes at Itachi from over his mug as he took a sip.

"Itachi's apprenticeship at the Hyūga Plant has finished, he's starting work at our company as of today," Fugaku beamed, swelling with pride and apparently not detecting the sarcasm in Sasuke's voice.

Sasuke cast an eye over Itachi as he set his mug down, wrinkling his nose in disgust; what a pathetic little suck up his brother was. If they were kangaroos, Itachi would never have left his mother's pouch.

"You'll be making the top deals in no time, son," Fugaku inclined his tea towards Itachi who only smiled weakly.

"Dad, you sell celery, you're hardly Apple or the cartel," Sasuke pointed out in exasperation.

"Celery products," Fugaku corrected with a cool triumph glittering in the pits of his eyes.

"Oh Jesus, sorry, _celery products_!" Sasuke threw his hands up and turned in search of his medication before anybody tried to remind him.

His eyes fell upon a small white box. The box had fourteen different compartments and each one was labelled with a different day of the week and each day had a different meridian ascribed to it. Sasuke stared, he stared in contemplation for a moment before comprehension dawned on him.

"What is that!?" He shouted at his mother, gesturing furiously towards the pill organiser. "What is _that_ , mother!?" He repeated when she only looked from the box to Sasuke sheepishly.

"It's just…Just to help you to remember to take them," she said edgily, an attempt at a smile twisting her lips.

"I am not an eighty-year-old woman, mother!" Sasuke seethed, grabbing the box.

Just looking at it made him bristle. It made him feel foolish and small. It made him feel different to everybody else in the kitchen.

"Well, if you'd just remember to take…Sasuke, what are you doing!?" Sasuke had opened every single compartment on the pillbox and turned it upside down. A shower of little lavender coloured pellets hit the floor, beating a tattoo against the pristine marble tiles. Sasuke watched as the twenty-six Sodium Valporate capsules – for he had kept two to take – shook for a moment before falling still; then he was gone. Straight out the door, before anybody could shout at him.

* * *

"You missed tutor," Naruto observed later in their Philosophy class.

"Hn," was all Sasuke could muster, there was an ever-convoluting web of reasons why he couldn't give Naruto a proper response. If it had been another one of their friends, for example, Shikamaru who sat to Sasuke's left, he might have managed at least seven words. For Naruto however, there was no hope.

"You're gonna end up on report with me, Kiba and Ino," Naruto snickered and Sasuke only nodded, focusing resolutely ahead of him.

He knew, that Naruto knew, exactly why things had dissolved between them. They had once been best friends, maybe better than that if there was a bond stronger than that. Then, everything had started to go wrong. They had both come to the earth-shattering realisation exactly which bond was stronger than the one they had nursed for so long, and it was territory neither of them were willing to touch, no matter how great the want. So that was that, they had fallen apart, or rather torn apart for the sake of self-preservation.

"Did something happen?" Naruto inquired, his blonde eyebrows drawing in at their centre and Sasuke felt his chest constrict at Naruto's concern.

"No," he trained his attention with far more resolve on Kakashi, dictating in front of the electronic whiteboard.

"I just…"

"How am I supposed to hear about Hume _or_ Kant for that matter with you hissing away in my ear? You're worse than Aoda," Sasuke snapped under his breath, shooting Naruto a sidelong glare. He had meant to silence Naruto but instead saw his blonde head bow and broad shoulders start to shake as he suppressed laughter. "It wasn't supposed to be funny," Sasuke snarled pointedly, paying more attention to Naruto who fought to sober up.

"I'm sorry, I just thought something might have happened with you know…" He gave a meaningful inclination of the head and Sasuke felt hot all over.

"Honestly! Every time I twitch or show up a second late, Naruto, I am not mid-seizure! I overslept, just like Kankuro but you're not…"

"Sasuke, Naruto…" The two boys fell silent and whipped around to face their lecturer who stood bearing down on them. Sasuke had been so invested in his furious tirade, he had neglected to keep a watchful eye on the ever-attentive man. "You do understand, it isn't obligatory to attend sixth form, you are perfectly free to leave my lesson, enjoy your conversation and waste away the rest of your lives outside of Konoha College…"

* * *

Sasuke was still feeling sulky later that night at Kiba's, scowling down the neck of his Budweiser. Kiba's bedroom wasn't small, certainly not as small as Naruto or Ten-Ten's. However, trying to accommodate twelve people and Kiba's Great Pyraneese Akamaru was a push. Then, there was Kiba's vast collection of MK DONS memorabilia; shirts with his name printed on the back, flags hung like tapestries and what felt like a veritable pit of team footballs. So, when Kiba came through carrying his large and rather expensive hookah pipe and a box of shisha tobacco, a surge of panic went up where they could rest the instrument.

"You're taking up the most room, move," Kiba booted Choji ruthlessly into a pile of balls roughly the same shape as the latter boy.

"Yo," Sasuke went tense all over as Naruto dropped into the snug space beside him. He was acutely aware of the fibres of Naruto's apricot jacket brushing against his knuckles.

"What?" Sasuke asked tightly, drawing his hand back into his lap.

"Sorry," Naruto apologised and Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Sorry for getting you in trouble, and sorry for pissing you off about the epilepsy. It's new to all of us." Naruto scratched the back of his head looking guilty, "I wish I had exactly the right thing to say all the time." He admitted and Sasuke's eyes trailed from him back to the hookah pipe.

"It's new to me too," he confessed with a tired sigh, drawing his knees up ever so slightly. "I'm one year deep in epilepsy and literally still don't fucking get it," he shrugged and then smiled coyly at Naruto. "If I don't get it, you don't stand a chance man."

"So why were you late earlier?" Naruto quizzed and Sasuke evaded his eye.

"This is ready, who wants first go?" Kiba raised the mouthpiece on the end of the hookah's long hose. Sasuke watched the object now that it had come to life. Its base looked like an amber hour glass and stirred with water. At the top though, in a complete paradoxical state, worked fire as embers chewed through a charcoal disk; heating the sticky tobacco and filling the room with the saccharine stench of strawberries and pomegranates.

"I didn't lie, I did oversleep," Sasuke began without look up, "but I had a fight with the family." He stared at the pipe until his vision went blurry and finally turned to Naruto, "mum bought me a pillbox, like I'm some kind of shuffling, doddering, invalid." He bit his lip and shook his head, "just got under my skin a bit you know." He shrugged.

"A pillbox? Wow that is…" Naruto's expression was unreadable for a moment, "hilarious." Sasuke blanched as Naruto crowed with laughter. "Oh, come on," Naruto snorted, ribbing Sasuke who was ready to get up and storm off. "It is a bit funny," Naruto pinched his forefinger and thumb together, "just a little bit?" Sasuke watched Naruto vibrate with waves of mirth and after a while the scowl slipped from his face and with it lifted the anger and resent.

For a moment, everything was right again, the integral parts of Sasuke's reality were dropping into place again. Then, it seemed Naruto deemed it okay to tempt fate and moved to scrub Sasuke's hair with the heel of his palm. The second their skin connected everything fell away again and they were no longer unblemished as a voltage of some feeling surged through Sasuke, striking him right at the core. Sasuke knew Naruto had felt it too because he snatched his hand away, taking a few strands of Sasuke's hair with him.

"I've got to take my meds," Sasuke was on his feet in a flash, picking his way towards his messenger bag and he saw that Naruto had done the same; jumped to his feet and slid away from Sasuke like he was contagious.

They weren't okay. Everything wasn't right again and it wasn't going to be. They were broken, just like Sasuke's brain.

* * *

Taadaa!

And that is one chapter :D

Please, rate and review is it? I keep seeing R&R and I'm like...Hmmm, very confused...It would be nice if you could because there are probably a thousand glaring errors that I'm just miserably failing to see (boohoo)

Hope you enjoyed huns!


	2. Chapter 2: Jigsaws

Hello!

 _So, this is chapter 2!_

 _Just specifying quickly that I don't own Naruto, that kind of goes without saying!_

 _There's a lot of rambling in this chapter - but, bear with :)_

 _Enjoy!_

Chapter 2.

* * *

Jigsaws.

As Sasuke rose from his bed, the entire world hit him in one pulse-like sensation; rather like being knocked back by an enormously loud sound. He felt like there was some kind of nimbus around his head which was closing in on him, pinching his temples and nasal bridge. He staggered for a moment as the sensation washed down his spine with a shiver. Abruptly, he lost all control of his body despite remaining upright; his eyelashes became licentious in their beds, his eyes rolled up leaving only milky crescents, and his hands fluttered unnaturally at his sides.

Sasuke's bizarre, swaying, state of unconsciousness only lasted ten seconds, before his eyes cleared and he righted himself. He stood staring at the white wash of his wall, waiting, and then the process happened all over again.

He had made a mistake, staying out until the early hours of the morning; schlepping home at six: a.m, towing a cartload of shame and regret in with him and the premonition of a searing hangover. However, what Sasuke never managed to predict was the real repercussions of his actions, he couldn't bring himself to take responsibility for putting himself at risk.

"Mum, _mum_!" Sasuke sank to his knees and hammered his fists on the floor, his pounding muted by the cornsilk-coloured fibres of his carpet. "Mum, it's happening!" He cried, his lips close to the floor as he rocked forwards and closed his eyes.

Everyone, including his friends and even Sasuke for a time, heard the word seizure and their minds jumped to the convulsing body on the floor. They were wrong, that was just one stellar remnant orbiting the fucked up neurological galaxy that was epilepsy. For Sasuke, his life was permeated by black holes, or rather absence seizures. Moments in his existence when his body simply met with a temporary termination and everything inside him went haywire. He couldn't control himself, couldn't speak, couldn't move, couldn't explain himself or ask for help. The effect of his ten second impairment, was an impenetrable vacancy that came over his face. Given his inability to communicate during such times, coupled with the vague expression, it seemed people had begun to draw to the conclusion that Sasuke was simply ignorant and self-important.

"Mum!" Sasuke shouted again, his voice cracking as panic surged through him.

He dug his fingers into the carpet with such force, the fibres left little red friction burns on his fingertips. With every passing absence seizure, the growing threat of a full-blown tonic clonic seizure edged ever closer like an all-consuming shadow.

"Sasuke!" Mikoto blew into the room sounding out of breath.

When Sasuke craned his neck ever so slightly, he saw that she was already dressed for work at the care home in her mint green tunic and starched black trousers.

"Mum, I messed up," he moaned pathetically, curling his fists beneath his forehead. "I stayed out too late and now they won't stop." He explained in a thin voice.

"Sasuke," Mikoto was at his side, her hand resting between his shoulder blades which were stretched taught with the effort of straining each of his muscles, desperately trying to regain ascendency of his muscles.

He could glimpse in the front pocket of her tunic was a white and orange carton: Midazolam. The sight of his rescue medication made him shudder. Four needleless syringes, made to fit between the inside of his cheek and gum, to discharge a solution designed to sedate him and bring him out of a tonic clonic seizure.

"Mum, why've you got…"

"Shh, Sasuke, shh," she silenced him softly, running her hand gently over his head.

* * *

Sasuke did not get to go to college that day. Instead, he had to sleep until three: p.m, when the seizures finally wore off, and by that time he felt at odds with the world. He lay flat on his bed late that evening, holding his smartphone so close to his face that the camera lens kept smacking him on the forehead.

Every chat on his phone, on every messaging platform it seemed, was blowing up. He had helpful little messages from Sakura wishing him well, but also passing on the handouts for their Psychology coursework. He daren't even touch the links that Kiba had sent him, history had taught him that it was wise to steer clear of Kiba's browsing appetites. There were several blunt and exceedingly colourful texts from Temari. The pings and jingles that alerted him to Naruto's continued attempts at forging contact were utterly migraine inspiring.

Then, there was the group chat which was so electric, Sasuke was tempted to leave it. His friends were trying to coordinate themselves in order to meet at Ichiraku's later that night, for the post-night-out run down. It was tradition, almost as good as the night out itself. They had been doing exactly the same thing since they were fourteen years old and Sasuke had enjoyed it – once, when he was still a part of functional society.

Scrubbing his hands over his face, trying to rid himself of the burning frustration prickling beneath his cheeks, he cast his phone down resentfully beside him. People were jigsaws and the rest of humanity had all of their pieces in tact; whereas Sasuke's puzzle was rife with gaping holes that absence seizures tore into him. He was apart from his friends.

A keening sound jolted Sasuke out of his wallowing and he pushed himself upright. Coruscate lights in red and blue came muted through his grey curtains, flickering cyclically. He jerked his curtains back centimetres and peered through his window which looked over nearly the entirety of Burgess Crescent.

Sure enough, a police car had drawn up outside one of the houses opposite Sasuke's. He could make out, crammed between two high-vis clad officers, a flush of red hair. The sight made him roll his eyes witheringly; it was something he could've predicted. There weren't many kids living in the lucrative Burgess Crescent, and those that did typically assumed the form of Itachi Uchiha's carbon copies, only to ripen later into the Fugakus of the world. There were the exceptions such as Sasuke, Temari and Kankuro, but even they were destined for a career driven and academic path, it was just in their blood. Kankuro and Temari's fifteen-year-old brother Gaara was different. Not just dissimilar. He was totally and utterly divergent from the rest of the crescent. Sasuke speculated what could've landed the teenager on the wrong side of the law this time; dealing? Fighting? Vandalising? All personal favourites of Gaara's.

 _Bang. Bang. Bang._

Sasuke pulled his curtains back again and unlatched his window, leaning his whole torso out precariously to investigate the cause of the sound. There stood something else he could've predicted that night. Temari was poised just past one of his mother's ridiculous topiary animals, hovering by the front door, looking ghoulish dressed only in her pyjamas.

"Yeah, it'll be on the latch, let yourself in – I'm not getting out of bed!" He shouted down at her before slumping back down on his mattress.

A minute passed before his door opened with such brute force, that he heard Aoda's tank shiver in its frame. There was a click and his tall lamp came on casting a scapolite lustre over everything in his bedroom.

"Are you just laying up here in the dark? _Pathetic_ ," Temari castigated as she marched towards him.

"I've been ill," he reminded, his tone miffed as he drew his feet back to make room for her on the bed.

"Is that why you've been ignoring all of Naruto's messages so blatantly?" she laughed all too knowingly as she took a seat beside him, "you do know he calls me after a while right? Bugging me about _you_?" She met Sasuke's gaze, her own piercing and full of a thousand intimations Sasuke didn't want to touch.

"That's because he expects you to be here, I ought to charge you rent," Sasuke countered, but Temari only rolled her eyes and pursed her lips at his deflecting. "So, what did he do this time - the little bro I mean?" Sasuke quizzed, worrying at the hem of his shirt.

At the mention of her brother, Temari's face recast itself and became stony and hard. It was always strange to see her without her signature thorny pigtails, Sasuke thought she looked younger and softer with her hair down. It was an unmasked kind of vulnerability that her younger brother seemed to inspire in her.

"Armed robbery," she told him through gritted teeth and Sasuke's eyebrows shot up.

"Oh – well, that's a new one," he struggled and Temari threw him a look of disdain as she slid a pack of Silk Cut from inside her sock.

"We could turn it into a game – Gaara bingo, try and guess how he's going to fuck up next: _Arson, BINGO!_ " Temari said humourlessly as she lit a cigarette. "The worst part is, he's sixteen next month and then he becomes liable for all of his own shit; he'll be tried as an adult and he just doesn't seem to get that." She shook her head, smoke cascading like a waterfall from her lips as she spoke. "He's going to end up inside, we know it, me and Kankuro do and Uncle Yashamaru, but I think he'd be quite relieved to get rid of Gaara to be honest…" Sasuke eyed Temari as she descended into intense ranting.

The truth was, this wasn't the first time they'd had this conversation, and it certainly wouldn't be the last. Temari would show up at Sasuke's at least once a week in her pyjamas to escape the Gaara, police officer, and livid uncle, soup that her house became every time Gaara perpetrated one of his not-so-petty misdeeds. It had been happening since Sasuke was twelve, and Temari's family had moved from Radcliffe-on-Trent to take the house opposite his.

"It's just hell, you know?" She sighed, looking weary, and Sasuke nodded. The truth was, he didn't know what it was like to have a brother like Gaara, Itachi was the antipode of Gaara in every way. Inversely still, was the fact that despite his faults, Temari still loved Gaara furiously; whereas Sasuke abhorred Itachi, from his inky ponytail to the eyelets in his sensible brogues.

"What about you anyway?" Temari snapped Sasuke out of his revere and he raised an eyebrow at her.

"What about me?" He quizzed.

"Still epileptic and in the closet?" She smirked and Sasuke started, flying off his bed towards his open bedroom door. Slamming the door, he pressed his back against the flat wood, breathing heavily and glaring at Temari.

"Can you hush your fucking noise, please?" He hissed.

His hand slid to the midway point on his door habitually, and then he remembered with a sinking feeling: the lock on his door had been crowbarred off the day after his diagnosis.

"So, a firm yes to both of those testy and taboo subjects?" Temari snickered as she flicked the butt of her cigarette out his window.

"They're taboo for a reason, Temari," Sasuke reminded her hotly as he returned to the bed. "You don't see me picking fights with you about Shikamaru." He pointed out.

"Ah, you made a rhyme, Sasuke," she clapped her hands together, seemingly ignoring his protestations. "Oxygen must be running pretty low in that closet by now Sasuke," she gave him a wise look and he looked away from her imperiously.

"The closet's fine, thanks." He sniffed. "I'm not even sure I'm in there so…" He trailed off with a shrug. "There might be some great girls at university." Lie. Lie _Lie. LIE!_

"Oh please, 'great girls,' don't remind me of your conquests Sasuke Uchiha. We don't need another Sasuke, Sakura cluster-fuck. Or your mum's apprentice crazy-eyes-Karin from Norwich. Oh, and lest we forget, little miss polo nose Tayuya; actually, the most successful of all your rubbish girlfriends." Temari shot him a penetrating glare and Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Whatever," he muttered.

"Come on, let's go out, it's not healthy for you to mope around up here," Temari slid off the end of his bed and Sasuke watched her go.

"Go out where? You're in your pyjamas and I…I haven't got any socks on…" He tried lamely.

"Then lend me a jacket, for Gods sake Sasuke, you can't ignore him forever. So, let's go to Ichiraku's and have a good time." She raised an eyebrow and Sasuke let his head fall against the wall with a sigh.

"Fine."

* * *

On their way down the stairs, Sasuke heard Itachi pacing his bedroom, speaking in a moderated tone as though worried he might be overhead.

"Go on, I'll meet you outside," Sasuke gave Temari a little flick, and although she looked curious, she did as he said.

Sasuke leant against Itachi's door, straining to catch the conversation happening on the other side.

"…Yes, yes, tomorrow…" Itachi's voice was raw and struck with a feral excitement that Sasuke didn't recognise on him. "Shisui is, and Obito will of course…" There was a long pause, "Madara, I…" Sasuke's chest tightened, he felt as though he could feel wrongdoing breathing on the base of his neck, sending all of his hairs bristling. Uncle Madara, the family member they weren't allowed to see or talk about. The Uchiha who part owned the Akatski Corporation, Fugaku's greatest rivalling company.

Sasuke was so unnerved, so lost in anxiety that he forgot to be stealthy and shifted all of his weight onto his right foot, sending a groaning all throughout the house as the floorboards bowed beneath his weight.

"I've got to go," Itachi said abruptly and before Sasuke had a chance to flee, his brother's bedroom door flew wide.

Sasuke came face to face with his brother, the tear troughs so deeply chased into his skin lit up by the saffron glare of his bedside lamp. There was a look on Itachi's face that Sasuke was barely familiar with as he regarded him. It was the same look he'd given Sasuke when he was nine-years-old and had broken his arm after falling off the monkey bars. It was the same look he'd given him after Sasuke had fought with their parents for real for the first time. It was the same look he'd given Sasuke after he'd found him, bedraggled and glassy-eyed on their bathroom floor one year ago after Sasuke's first tonic clonic seizure. The look was utter, unsheltered panic shot with the type of concern Sasuke supposed only a brother could feel.

"Sasuke…" The look disappeared and his face smoothed quickly into its usual frosty mask.

"What were you doing in there? You're not supposed to talk to him – to Madara," Sasuke reminded Itachi uneasily.

"What are you doing sneaking out at one in the morning?" Itachi countered and Sasuke blanched.

"Don't change the subject."

"Then don't be nosy, shouldn't you be worrying about filling out your uni application forms instead of spying on me?" Itachi leant against his door frame, moving nimbly and casually despite being caught in the act of deception.

"I…" Sasuke began awkwardly.

"Let me guess, more partying, then you're going to go crying to mum again when you're not well in the morning?" Itachi drawled and Sasuke's breathing hitched like his brother had punched him in the gut. "Which reminds me; mum can't take you to your neuro appointment, she's asked me to take you but I can't do it, so I need you to get yourself there."

Sasuke met Itachi's eyes, feeling like starting an argument, a full blazing row at one in the morning that would rouse their parents. However, then came visions of his mother forcing Itachi to attend Sasuke's hospital appointment with him. He would rather go alone than with his brother.

"Fine, whatever," Sasuke muttered, turning to leave, but Itachi seized him by the forearm. "Get off me," Sasuke ordered flatly and Itachi obliged, however, he left his hand hovering close to Sasuke's arm.

"If you tell mum or dad what you heard; I'll tell them that you've been sneaking out. Uncle Madara, he just misses his family, that's all," Itachi avoided Sasuke's indignant glare.

"You don't have to threaten me, Itachi, I couldn't give less of a shit about what kind of mess you're getting yourself into." Sasuke paused, "I don't think you should talk to him though. It'll upset mum when she finds out, just saying," and with that, Sasuke left.

"How come you've been ignoring all my messages?"

Sasuke hadn't even been given a chance to sit down before Naruto accosted him. He had made it into the greasy restaurant, the candied stench of deep fryers and imported syrup utterly unchanging, when Naruto had seized him by the wrist.

"I haven't been," Sasuke lied, "I was asleep."

Temari swanned past them, joining the rest of their party at a booth several feet from Naruto and Sasuke. Traitor, Sasuke thought, as he watched her go.

"Liar." Sasuke turned to look at Naruto when he said this. He was taken aback to see just how hurt Naruto looked. His blonde hair was uncombed and shaggy around his face, which was a few shades paler than its usual sun licked glow. This wasn't just hangover deterioration, Sasuke had seen Naruto post-bender and this wasn't it, this was hours of restless worry.

"I just…I'm fine," He met Naruto's eyes, holding his hands up as though to prove he were still whole and completely cognitively functioning. "I'm fine."

"That's fantastic to know," Naruto nodded uncharacteristically coldly and began to turn away.

"Naruto, wait," Sasuke snatched his hand out and closed his fingers around Naruto's wrist, feeling the bracelet of wooden beads part and constrict beneath his grasp. Naruto turned to look back at him and Sasuke knew they were both aware of it; the excitement the touch brought them and desperation to respond to the thrills intoxication. "You know, you already know," his voice hoarse, "you know why I didn't answer you. Why I never answer you."

Naruto held Sasuke's gaze, his own so readable to Sasuke it hurt, it hurt in every recess of his body to know he would have to turn away from the stare.

"It doesn't matter how fucked up…"

"I need a favour," Sasuke wasn't thinking, he had averted his eyes to a point past Naruto's beaten up plimsole. "I need a ride to my hospital appointment next week; you've got a car, can you take me, please?" There were so many alluding veins to the request, underlying and unsaid yet definitely heard.

"Yes, yes definitely," Naruto responded almost immediately sounding taken aback.

"Thanks," Sasuke nodded and he detangled his wrist from Naruto.

When they broke apart, Sasuke's skin still fluttered with Naruto's pulse, the flesh of his palm remained flushed where he had gripped Naruto; his mind was still scattered with the knowledge that this was never going to go away.

* * *

That's the end of chapter 2! :D


	3. Chapter 3: Glastonbury

Chapter 3.

Glastonbury.

The Tuesday morning of Sasuke's hospital appointment he was magnificently sober. Such was his lucidity that Sasuke padded down to his kitchen with the intention of eating a proper breakfast, rather than substituting with a mug of coffee, two paracetamols, and however many ibroprofen stuck.

However, when Sasuke arrived in the kitchen, he was struck with a rather unfriendly sight. His father and brother were already garbed in their crisp, executive suits, which was nothing special; however, the presence of the family attorney, Obito Uchiha, wasn't something Sasuke wanted to wash his cereal down with.

"What's going on?" Sasuke broached edgily, as he neared the table.

He could see that it's chrome surface was stained with faint white cartwheels; a sign that his mother had polished the table-top feverishly with a microfibre rag and possibly half a bottle of disinfectant that morning, something serious was going on.

"Your cousin Shisui's passed away," his father announced briskly and Sasuke looked up from his own distorted reflection in the table-top.

"What?" He frowned, "when?" His eyes travelled to Itachi: Shisui had been his best friend and he looked utterly unaltered as he gazed at the conglomeration of paperwork spread between the three men.

"Friday evening, possibly," Fugaku explained and although his tone was aloof, Sasuke knew that his father was not completely untouched by his nephew's death.

"Possibly?" Sasuke quizzed in a small voice, still trying to catch Itachi's eye, but it was like his brother was deliberately avoiding his gaze.

"The police search for Shisui's body has thus far proven to be a sterile one. However, given the eye witness reports of those on shore and the fragmentary condition in which his 3100 Corenet was recovered; the corner is satisfied to rule that Shisui drowned roughly on Friday evening." Obito answered Sasuke's question in his steady contralto voice.

Sasuke gaped in horror and repulsion at his family; they hadn't even managed to dredge his poor cousins body up? And why wasn't Itachi reacting? How could he look so placid and collected when hearing the appalling details of his best friend's death? Sasuke couldn't understand him, he couldn't understand any of them.

"So, what's all this about then?" Sasuke picked limply at the corner of a sheet of paper, one of many strewn across the table. "Funeral shit? What're you going to fill the casket with, gravel?" Sasuke cocked an eyebrow.

" _Sasuke_ …" Sasuke scented danger at the asperity in his father's voice, but to his amazement, Itachi interjected before the situation could escalate.

"It's just legal stuff, Sasuke, nothing important." The very idea that Itachi was making any kind of attempt to reassure Sasuke, intrigued him, what exactly were all of the papers for?

"What legal stuff?" Sasuke continued to press suspiciously, readjusting his whole body so that he faced the three Uchiha's head on, letting them know that he had no intentions of leaving.

"Shisui didn't have any kind of last will or testament in place at the time of his death. He and Mabui were unmarried; meaning that all of Shisui's assets will be liquidized and poured back into the state, leaving Mabui with nothing." Fugaku explained in an even voice. "We can't risk that happening to our family."

Sasuke wanted to be surprised, but he wasn't; a family member dies and the first thing on the Uchiha's minds was how the circumstances could impact them. His families utilitarian psych was an ethos Sasuke could never seem to fall in sync with. He heard tragedy and he felt tragedy, not pragmatics and financial security.

"The business is already set to divide equally between you two boys when I pass away. However, it never dawned on me what might happen if your mother and I passed away in succession; that would mean that this house would be taken from you. It's too late to edit my will without it looking like foul play; however, it isn't too late for me to _gift_ the house to your brother." Fugaku explained as he picked up a fountain pen, emblazoned with the Uchiha company logo.

"You're giving Itachi the house!?" Sasuke asked, flummoxed.

"In name only," Fugaku nodded.

Sasuke glanced from his father, to his brother, who was staring dispassionately down at the paperwork set before him. _The phone-call from the previous week_ , Sasuke thought, _Itachi couldn't be trusted._

"This family is seriously fucked up," was all Sasuke said, pushing away from the table, and promising himself that he would never let himself be around his family in such a state of sobriety ever again.

"It's almost like they want you to miss your appointment – oh come on mate!" Naruto blasted the horn of his Ford Fiesta, which sent a horrible sound, like a goose being throttled, echoing all throughout the underground level of the hospital carpark. "What is this joker doing!?" Naruto gestured furiously towards the purple Nissan, vacating a parking space at snail's pace.

* * *

"I think that woman is ninety, Naruto," Sasuke muttered, still cringing from his livid blaring of the car horn. He had finally managed to dislodge a half-drunk bottle of iced-tea from the base of his spine, it had taken the entirety of the thirty-minute drive to do so. To call the foot wells of Naruto's car a swamp, would be an insult to swamps, which at least served some kind of purpose. The rust coloured Fiesta was knee deep with a compost of rotting takeout, decomposing coursework, beer bottles and debris that had evolved so greatly in it's fungal life-cycle, Sasuke was certain it must be close to developing sentience.

When they'd finally parked and found their way to the neurology outpatients waiting room, Sasuke was beginning to feel uncomfortable. He should never have invited one of his friends into this world; this world where he was weak and inadequate.

"Hey Sasuke…"

"What?" Sasuke snapped unnecessarily harshly.

"You look like you've just been decked, what's up?" Naruto asked, ignoring Sasuke's tone expertly.

"Nothing," Sasuke shrugged.

"Nothing," Naruto mimicked him, putting on a mocking voice and a much more dramatic flounce.

"Stop it," he ordered, knowing that he was being colder than he needed to be; that he was venting all of his own insecurities onto Naruto.

"Stop it," Naruto continued to imitate him in that ridiculing tone.

"Naruto!"

"Sasuke!"

They locked eyes, and a grin spread over Naruto's face, humour twinkling in his cornflower eyes. Sasuke sucked in and deep breath and looked away, folding his arms across his chest. He fixed his eyes on the water machine set in the corner of the room, stacked with plastic cups.

"Doesn't it bother you, being here?" Sasuke mused.

"Huh?" He could feel Naruto watching him.

"Doesn't it feel weird to you, being here? It does to me," Sasuke admitted as he looked around him. There was this thing about hospitals, a persistent attempt to gloss over the sickness that lurked within the walls. They painted the walls an almost obscenely seductive plum colour, spread a carpet the colour of teddy bears and threw up children's artwork all around. It wasn't friendly or inviting, it just reminded Sasuke that people like him needed to be cosseted from the truth, the truth that they were sick.

"I wish you didn't have to be here, if that's what you mean?" Naruto said slowly and after a while Sasuke shook his head, still staring at one of the paintings on the wall.

"That's not what I meant."

"Sasuke…"

"Sasuke Uchiha," A woman called and Sasuke shot to his feet; what surprised him though, was that Naruto was hot on his heels.

"Hello Sasuke," Tsunade greeted him as he entered the consultant's office.

"Hi," he glanced back at a cheery looking Naruto, who was staring interestedly around the office. "This is my friend, Naruto Uzamaki," Sasuke explained lamely with a backwards gesture as he took a seat. Naruto pulled up one beside him and lounged comfortably, much more so than Sasuke, who sat rigidly waiting to hear what his consultant had to say.

"Well, Sasuke," she said briskly as she flicked through a beige folder with his name on it. "I'm afraid you haven't responded to the Sodium Valporate quite as well as we would have liked." She told him and Sasuke swallowed, feeling tense.

"What does that mean?" He asked, trying to sound like Itachi: calm, cool and collected.

"It means that, although Sodium Valporate is the best kind of drug for somebody with your kind of epilepsy, you've remained unresponsive to that particular treatment. I'd like to trial you on a new medication: Levetiracetam," she was already away, making notes, whilst Sasuke had turned to stone.

"What's that?" It was Naruto who spoke.

"It's been around for quite a while now so it's a well trialled drug and has had a lot of success. However, there are side effects, just like with Sodium Valporate when your hands shook for the first few weeks, Sasuke," she peered into Sasuke's face, her caramel eyes assessing. "Levetiracetam causes incredible mood swings, crashing lows usually which is the most common cause for people being withdrawn from treatment; they become suicide risks." She explained bluntly and Sasuke felt his mouth go dry.

"And you want to put him on that?" Naruto sounded outraged, but Tsunade only spared him a brief glance.

"If it's the best course of treatment, then yes, I do." She nodded firmly and then looked back to Sasuke who was unmoving. "I also want to send you for another routine eeg scan, based on the results of that we'll decide on whether we need to proceed with an ambulatory eeg. I also need you to book an appointment to send off blood for testing, we need to keep an eye on your toxicity levels now your dosages are increasing." She continued to make notes and still Sasuke said nothing. "Book another appointment with me in three months at the front desk Sasuke so we can see how your new meds are working." She ordered and Sasuke nodded, was it over?

She looked up and caught his eye, her face clearing of its clinical severity.

"I know it's frightening now Sasuke, but it won't be forever," she smiled kindly.

He wanted to feel consoled. To be braced. To be lifted by her professional bolstering; but, he only felt cold.

* * *

He and Naruto didn't return to the car immediately. Instead, they perched on a low parapet outside of the hospital, watching traffic whiz by. Sasuke had expected Naruto to ask about his new drugs, to stir up the conversation that frightened him so much.

"What the hell is an egg?" He asked instead.

"An egg is something a chicken lays, you absolute nimrod. An eeg is a brain scan, they attach a tonne of wires to your head and have a look what's going on." Sasuke explained with a snort.

"Shut up, for real? Can they see everything, like what you're thinking? Jesus, I wouldn't want to see inside your head. I bet it's poisonous in there, just, like, the Guantanamo of swear words and abusive put-downs," Naruto gestured with his hands looking amazed and Sasuke spluttered with laughter. "In fact, I bet that's why you're epileptic," Naruto smirked at him and Sasuke gasped.

"What!?"

"Yeah, all that bile you've got going on in there: _'Naruto you're such a loser,' 'Naruto you're such an unbelievable fuckwit,' 'Oi, dickhead…'_ It all adds up Sasuke, one brain can only take so much filth, you've self-destructed, mate," Naruto sighed and cackled when Sasuke aimed a blow in his direction.

Once they'd calmed down, Sasuke curled his fingers around the edge of the brick wall and cast his gaze back towards the cars bellow, a smirk toying at the corners of his lips.

"No, an eeg can only see your brainwaves, not your thoughts. If it could see your thoughts though I'd be thinking: _'Naruto Uzamaki is a virgin! Tell the world!'_ " He turned and grinned at Naruto who threw him a look of disgust.

They stayed silent for a while, watching as beneath them people moved about in their individual existences. Each person below emitting their own singular sound and diagnostic scent, which united to created one commingling world. Each person linked to another, who in turn was bound to another until they were responsible for the coalescing of the entire world; Naruto and Sasuke were part of that.

"Let me come with you?" Naruto murmured, "to the eeg."

He and Naruto were part of that fusion, a bond sealed by the world was not his to break.

"Yes," Sasuke nodded, not looking at Naruto but, feeling as Naruto's smallest finger edged towards his and linked.

They were stupid, desperate and hopeless. Why had they let themselves fall like this? Allowed their naïve and untaught selves to be cornered by what they couldn't have predicted? Sasuke felt like Icarus, he had flown too close to the sun as well, and he too had burnt. This yearning, this guilt and desperation was going to incinerate Sasuke and turn him to ashes.

Still, he didn't move his hand from under Naruto's.

* * *

"So, I've had an idea," Kiba drummed on the table enthusiastically and everybody around the table looked wary. They had all travelled on the bus to Harpenden to a night club called Hozuki Castle. It was an expensive trip, but the only pubs in their home town were The Valley of The End, Roran Palace, and Kaguya's, one of which was actually a casino. There were no clubs where Sasuke lived, and so, for a decent night out with his friends, he had to be prepared to pay a small fortune.

"What's the idea?" Lee slurred, his finger ringed with a lock of Sakura's hair; they were a much better fit than Sasuke and Sakura had ever been.

"Ready?" Kiba leant in towards them all, sweeping aside a tower of shot glasses, honeyed with Jägermeister, Kahula, rum, and a rainbow of flavoured schnapps. Everybody was ready, everybody wanted to hear Kiba's ridiculous announcement and then retreat to the dancefloor or smoking area; Sasuke wasn't sure where he was headed yet.

"Glastonbury," He announced after another drumroll.

"As in the festival?" Ten-Ten quizzed, leaning around Shino, who even in the sweltering nightclub hadn't removed his Gallagher lookalike parka. The trick was, not to engage Shino in talk about Oasis, if he heard you humming so much as a bar of Champagne Supernova, you were guaranteed an hour-long rhetoric all about the bands highs and lows.

"Yes, as in the festival, what're you saying boys – and girls – let's do Glasto!" Kiba enthused animatedly.

Sasuke eyed Kiba wearily, of all his ideas…

"I'm in," Sai nodded, tipping back the last of his fireball.

"Yeah, Glastonbury sounds like a laugh," Temari agreed, swilling her pint with a wry grin in Sasuke's direction.

"If Temari's going, I will too," Shikamaru piped up and Temari's cheeks burned.

Sasuke listened in stun as his remaining friends agreed in drabs to Kiba's suggestion. Didn't they realise how much Glastonbury tickets cost? Maybe Sasuke could've afforded them last year when he'd still had his job as a barista at Nue's Bistro, however, he'd had to quit his job when absence seizures had prevented him from attending morning shifts.

"Sasuke?" Naruto glanced at Sasuke and he realised they were all waiting for an answer.

"Uh, sure."

"YES!" Kiba cheered, punching the air and spilling half a pint of Guinness over Choji's lap.

Sasuke watched as his friends bent their heads together, beckoning for Lee to bring them the next round of drinks. They were lost in wired talk of Glastonbury. Sasuke watched on, feeling knowledge heavy in his gut; the knowledge that he was going to have to go crawling to his parents for money once more. Slithering and pathetic, he was such a miserable parasite.

"Sasuke, you alright?" Naruto leant around him, beaming.

"Yeah, fine," Sasuke flashed him a smile and threw back his vodka and Coke.

 _Absolutely fine._

* * *

 _Yay!_

 _Chapter 3!_

 _:)_


	4. Chapter 4: Monsters

Hello Huns!

I just want to say thank you so much for the reviews I've recieved! They honestly give me life, you guys are just the sugar in my Earl Grey Tea! :')

I _PROMISE_ every single plot thread I open I will resolve, E.G Itachi and Shisui and any new ones in this chapter...

I have inadvertently turned this story into a rather lengthy one, apologies!

I hope you enjoy, this chapter is just stuffed with feelings, and it's from Naruto's POV!

(I don't own Naruto!)

* * *

Chapter 4.

Monsters.

Naruto lived in the shittiest part of town; there were disaster estates, and then there was White Hill. It was never dark outside for the pollution of oil drum infernos and the full-beams of hysterical joyriders. There was never silence, like on Sasuke's exclusive Burgess Crescent; on White Hill, you could always hear screaming and smashing. Objects routinely breaking, people breaking, that was just the canticle of Naruto's stained slum.

It was times like that evening, when his mother and father were both on nightshifts at The Hotel Momoshiki, that Naruto detested his home. It was like he could feel himself suffocating under the moans and dull minds of every deadbeat and loser who'd resigned themselves to the curse of White Hill. He could feel their surrender to failure physically bearing down on his chest.

"Come on, Kurama," Naruto pushed his ginger cat off his knees and got to his feet.

Kurama gave an indignant hiss of protest at having been dumped on the floor, shaking out his bushy pumpkin coloured tail.

"I'm going out, you're gonna have to find something else to do, bud," Naruto bent and scratched between the large, ex-street cat's ears. Kurama turned his yellow eyes on Naruto owlishly and let out a plaintive meow. "Sorry," he sighed as he straightened up.

The cat stretched in front of Naruto, very deliberately making a nuisance of himself. Naruto had always thought that Kurama was far too big for a housecat, he terrified small dogs. Maybe he was part badger, Naruto observed, he certainly had the temperament. Or maybe part fox, he was certainly bushy and red enough. Then again, what kind of fox hated the rain and cowered in thunderstorms? No, Kurama was definitely one-hundred-percent cat.

On his way out of the house, Naruto pulled down his soft, suede, Harrington from the coat hooks beside his front door. Slinging the jacket on and reaching for his keys, he stepped out into the balmy April evening.

Naruto chained and padlocked the bent wrought-iron fence that bulwarked his front garden off to intruders, before making his way through the labyrinthine estate. White Hill never changed, Naruto doubted it ever had, the faces changed but the souls were constants. Behind a child's play park with busted swings and a see-saw, so badly broken that it was only really a saw now; a cluster of grim faced people stood, meeting at the palms. They thought they were being inconspicuous: they weren't. Kin through drugs; Naruto didn't blame them, anything to numb this world they were trapped in. People like them, penniless people, to them escape seemed impossible.

You get the grades, _great_ , and then what? Go to university and take out a loan, but what about mum and dad? Whilst you're busy nursing off the government, what state of decay have they slipped into?

Naruto zipped the funnel neck of his Harrington up fully around his throat, so that the khaki suede held him in a choke hold. He let the tempo of his own footfall drive away the bad thoughts. He was on his way to Kiba's, who like him, didn't live in blessed society.

Kiba certainly didn't live in the same squalor as White Hill, however, his own residence Vale Avenue did not glow with prestige either.

The second Naruto reached Kiba's street, a thunderclap of zoo-like noise went up: dogs were yowling, cats were hissing and spitting, even a few geese were honking somewhere despite the late hour. Naruto doubted that a single one of Kiba's neighbours was without an animal of some kind. He jogged down the steps to Kiba's front door and let it off the latch; it was never locked in case one of the Inuzuka's needed to let a dog out at top speed.

Pummelling up the small staircase, the carpet of which had possible once been mint green but was now so overspread with dog hair it was impossible to be sure. Naruto didn't even knock on Kiba's door, he'd never bothered before and didn't intend to break the habit of a lifetime.

"Yo – you're in bed?" Naruto observed with a scoff, as he picked his way into Kiba's bedroom and saw the great hump beneath Kiba's MK DONS duvet spread. "Mate, it's like nine, get Fallout on," Naruto was grinning as he approached Kiba's bed.

The shapeless figure beneath the quilt had gone unnaturally stiff and Naruto noticed his friend was strangely arched under the covers.

"Uh, I'm sick, man," Kiba replied after a moment with an affected little cough.

Naruto frowned.

"Kiba, I literally watched you inhale twenty chicken nuggets and eight full sized Mars bars just five hours ago, that is bullshit…" Naruto whipped the covers back with the intention of unveiling best friend.

However, what Naruto got instead was an eyeful of tangled limbs, skin lustrous with sweat and hair both brown and blonde heavy with the same. Ino and Kiba stared up at Naruto, dread and shock rushing over their faces.

"What…The…Fuck?" Naruto elongated the sentence. "What the fuck… _But Sai_?" His eyes rested on Ino in disbelief. What about Sai, her boyfriend of two years? Kiba's friend for even longer.

Then they were up, scrabbling about desperately and the next few minutes were a flurry. Ino was in tears before she even managed to roll out from underneath Kiba and pull on one of his football shirts; her own clothes were lost to his bedroom. Kiba was up on his feet furiously defending himself to a shell-shocked Naruto.

"But, Sai's your friend," Naruto blew away all of Kiba's attempts to vindicate himself and guard himself from guilt. "Sai is your friend Kiba, what the fuck are you two doing?" Naruto took a step closer to him and to Kiba's left Akamaru gave a warning snarl.

"I know," Kiba nodded his voice hoarse. "I know that."

"So, why did you do it? Seriously, explain because I don't understand this! I thought you and Sai were for keeps…" Naruto locked eyes with Ino who nodded frantically, tears still lashing at her face.

"We are – I love Sai, I do!" She insisted sounding hysterical.

"Then why…"

"The future is just fucking us up! Everything is already a mess and we're not even there yet. I'm not ready for that shit. We're already fuckups so why not just fuck it up a bit more?" Kiba exploded.

"That's just an excuse and you know it, it's just an excuse to give up!" Naruto barked fiercely; he had never been so irate with another one of his friends, never felt so betrayed by one or wanted to shake one quite so much. He advanced on Kiba, but as he did so Akamaru's furious growling climaxed into a bloodcurdling bay and he lunged forwards. "Fuck!" Naruto snatched his hand back from the dog's jaws.

There wasn't a better word for that moment, that situation, for his friends: _fuck._

He knew that Kiba would try to defend himself again and Ino would persist to wail into the early hours of the morning if he gave them the chance; he knew his friends. So, Naruto raised a dismissive hand at them and withdrew himself from their mephitic wreckage. Back on the streets again, on his own, only this time his hand was shredded and bloody.

Naruto slid his phone out of his pocket and dialled the number of the only person he wanted to see, the only person he could trust to deliver him with complete honesty and invariable rationality. The only person who could ground him.

"Hey, dickhead," Sasuke picked up the phone just before Naruto thought it might cut out. He didn't sound happy to receive his call, but then he never did, that was just him.

"Hey," Naruto replied, staring down at his feet on the dry pavement below.

"What's up?" Sasuke asked disinterestedly and Naruto could hear the muffled sounds of gunfire and Birmingham accents in the background, what was Sasuke watching?

"Nothing much," Naruto hedged as he wend his way down and embankment that would lead him into town.

"You sure?" The change in Sasuke's tone alerted Naruto to his shift in attention; he sounded sharper and tense. For a moment Naruto didn't say anything, he only turned his gaze to the night sky and the silvery stars wheeling above.

"Come meet me, please?" He said finally in a small voice.

"Yeah, sure," there wasn't a note of teasing in Sasuke's voice, "where?"

"Kaguya's."

* * *

Naruto didn't have to wait long for Sasuke to arrive at Kaguya's. He was just squeezing the lime into his first Desperado, watching the saccharine juice candy the neck of his bottle, when the pub door opened.

Naruto loved seeing Sasuke walk into places unaccompanied. A look of open uncertainty spread over his pretty, pale face, parting his seashell pink lips in apprehension as he cast around for a familiar face. Then came the moment his dark gaze fixed on Naruto and relief replaced the searching confusion. Naruto loved being the object of Sasuke's need for anchoring, even when it was so simple and fleeting; he felt relevant and substantial.

"Hey," Sasuke greeted slightly breathlessly after buying himself a Coke.

"Hi," Naruto greeted and then eyed the Coke bemusedly.

"Oh, can't drink alcohol within an hour of taking my meds," Sasuke explained patting his jeans pocket where presumably his anti-convulsants hid.

"Ooh," Naruto cooed with an understanding nod of the head.

"What's up then?" Sasuke asked as he slid into the bench seat opposite Naruto and inclined his head towards his drink. "And Jesus, what happened to your hand?" He snatched for Naruto's hand and held it up to inspect the raw lacerations. Naruto felt the angry wounds soothe at Sasuke's touch, his soft skin so gentle against Naruto's own coarse hands.

"Akamaru," Naruto explained darkly and when Sasuke only looked baffled, Naruto began to explain everything that he'd seen that evening.

"What? That's…" Sasuke trailed off, his dark brows knitting together in astonished perplexity. He shook his head and ducked towards his drink, catching the straw between his teeth, he began to gnaw thoughtfully on the plastic.

"I know, do we tell Sai?" Naruto mused anxiously and Sasuke's pitch coloured eyes darted up to meet his.

"Is it our place?" Sasuke muttered before running his thumb over his bottom lip contemplatively. "I suppose, now that they know that _you know_ , Ino and Kiba might just come clean." Naruto barely heard, he was too busy watching the fluid progress of Sasuke's thumb over his soft bottom lip.

"I guess," Naruto shrugged, picking up his Desperado for a distraction from Sasuke.

"It's not your fault you saw, they're the ones screwing Sai over – not you," Sasuke assured with a small smile that touched the rest of his face in a way that made Naruto's chest ache. "Anyway, in different news," Sasuke withdrew the strip of medication from inside his pocket. "Naruto, meet five hundred milligrams of Levetiracetam – street name, Keppra…"

"Street name?" Naruto frowned and Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Fine, brand name, just suck all the edge out of my life saving medication, why don't you?" Sasuke rolled his eyes and then smirked, decanting one of the pale yellow, oval pills onto the table between them.

"Well, hello Keppra," Naruto laughed grinning down at the tiny pill before Sasuke picked it up and popped it in his mouth.

"Jesus, Naruto, talking to inanimate objects? You need to see a doctor, mate," Sasuke winked as Naruto spluttered.

With that their conversation deviated from Kiba and Ino, from everything that made Naruto's insides feel twisted and messed up. That was the magic of Sasuke, he could take it all away, all the bad stuff; and such was his sensible personality, he made it feel like the bad stuff should never have been there to begin with, he sorted everything out. Like an incredibly attractive, bewitched, Filofax, Naruto observed.

"…And the picture Choji's using on this app is like, _unrecognisable_ …" Naruto was in the middle of a story when Sasuke held up a hand, his expression severe as he stared off in the direction of the men's toilets.

"If you need to go Sasuke, go," Naruto told him but Sasuke threw him and look of disgust and shook his head once.

"No, that's Temari's brother, Gaara," he pointed subtly and Naruto turned.

He distantly recognised the boy, although he wasn't surprised Sasuke knew him given how close he and Temari were. The boy had a thatch of crimson hair and an inky tattoo licking at the base of his crown. Whatever he was up to, it didn't look good, because he kept glancing around shiftily.

"That dude he's meeting, I recognise him," Sasuke muttered sounding both annoyed and concerned. "He used to run with Tayuya," he threw Naruto a meaningful look.

Tayuya, Sasuke's ex-girlfriend, very nice, very pretty, very talented with the flute, very into her smack and speed.

"His name's Zaku Abumi," Sasuke elaborated, nibbling at his thumb nail anxiously as he watched Gaara and the man interact. "And he was into," Sasuke glanced at Naruto, "the big stuff." Naruto observed Sasuke's strained face as he eyed Gaara and Zaku. "Ooh, Gaara's picking something up off him," Sasuke looked anxious and began to drum his fingers on the surface of the wooden table between them. " _Damn, damn, damn_ ; Temari's going to go mad," he bit his lip looking torn.

"Aren't you going to text her?" Naruto asked, confused as to why Sasuke hadn't already done so, he and Temari were so close.

"No, she's on a date with Shikamaru – not that I told you that," Sasuke flashed him a quick smirk. "They've been seeing each other for a while now." Naruto cracked a grin.

"That's amazing, I can't believe they took this long," he chuckled.

"Yeah, well, you know what mine and Temari's families are like," Sasuke muttered, not taking his eyes from Gaara.

* * *

Naruto followed Sasuke through the timber gate that lead to his front garden. He noticed as he went that the Uchihas didn't use a padlock and chain to keep intruders out, rather they had an expensive looking digital code-lock tacked to their gate. Their front garden was sprawling and well kept, and where Sasuke dismissed it and headed straight for the front door, Naruto lingered. The garden had small hillocks atop which balanced shiny, topiary bushes, trimmed to perfection to resemble bears, swans and rabbits. A fountain filled the night air with the sound of ever percolating water, as the Uchiha company logo of a fan, spouted jets of water into a marble pool filled with fat koi-carp.

"Keep up or you can sleep in the hedge," Sasuke drawled and Naruto jogged to meet him on the doorstep.

Naruto had been relieved when Sasuke had offered him a place to stay for the night, unwilling to entertain the idea of returning to his own barren hovel.

The inside of the house smelled faintly like Sasuke but, Naruto supposed that was a thing, everybody had their scent. It was a pleasant smell, one of his favourites, so simple in its freshness and cleanliness.

"Hungry?" Sasuke quizzed as they broached the kitchen.

What kind of luxury, imported rarities would a family like the Uchihas stock in their kitchen? Their fridge was probably bursting with lobsters and carrots they'd had toured around the world for the sake of it.

"No, thanks," Naruto held up a hand and Sasuke nodded, utterly oblivious to the whirlwind going on inside Naruto's brain. He followed Sasuke up the stairs, Naruto could've guessed Sasuke's family would've been one of those with all pine or cream carpets.

"Hey, little guy," Sasuke shot across his bedroom to a tank that Naruto knew contained anything but a _little guy_.

Sasuke's room had always been the same, it was always in vogue; so fashionable, yet always practical. Opposite his bed was a desk, above which rested a corkboard which was overspread with revision notes and prompts. That was something else about Sasuke, he was such a high achiever, Naruto couldn't imagine what a blow his diagnosis could've been.

"You can sit down," Sasuke said over his shoulder, "Just kick the Mac on the floor."

 _Kick the Mac on the floor_ , and there it was in one sentence, proof of their class divide.

"Aoda's a bit hissy today," Sasuke sighed, straightening up.

"Sasuke, I hate to tell you this, but he's a snake and they've been known to hiss," Naruto said slowly as though Sasuke were incredibly stupid.

"Shut up," Sasuke muttered joining Naruto on the bed. "Or you can sleep on the floor, or even worse, in with Itachi." Sasuke screwed his face up as though he'd just swallowed something very nasty. "Who's ascended to new levels of snakieness lately. He keeps phoning my Uncle Madara late at night, the one we're not supposed to speak to; and he keeps talking about Shisui, to him - the cousin who died - like he's _still alive_ , not in a denial way either, in a completely barmy way…"

Naruto wondered if even Sasuke understood the true measure of the complexity of his and Itachi's relationship. He didn't hate Itachi, not really, Naruto knew that and he was sure some part of Sasuke knew that too. However, Sasuke had to try, he had to compete with life just like everybody else, and then there was Itachi, who breezed through unhindered and profoundly brilliant at everything. Things had only retrogressed with Sasuke's diagnosis and suddenly Sasuke had a label, a label of inefficiency, whilst Itachi prevailed again. It was jealousy and insecurity that made Sasuke resent his brother, not hate.

"Honestly, if I had a choice between sharing a bed with that boy and a vat sweltering sulphuric acid, me and my size nine slippers would be in that vat so quickly I doubt you'd even find a tooth…" Sasuke wound himself into a seething rant and Naruto listened for a while.

"Hey," he finally interrupted and laid down on the bed.

Sasuke looked momentarily perplexed, and then he smiled and joined Naruto, laying so they were face to face.

"Hey," Sasuke whispered, his breath coasting over Naruto's lips.

"Thanks for letting me stay," Naruto touched the tip of Sasuke's nose and Sasuke turned his face into the sheets ever so slightly, Naruto saw that his cheeks had flushed.

"It's fine," he muttered.

"Hey, does it bother you when I make jokes?" Naruto asked the question that had been bothering him rather suddenly.

"I beg your pardon?" Sasuke frowned looking alarmed.

"When I make jokes about your epilepsy, does it upset you?" Naruto met his eyes feeling anxious.

Sasuke watched him for a moment before shaking his head slowly.

"No, I'd rather you laugh than ignore it like the others." He admitted awkwardly and Naruto breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's just, hear me out," Naruto said in a rush, "when you have a monster, some scary nightmare thing; well, the best way to deal with monsters is to just laugh at them, to laugh at them until they become so small that you become _their_ monster." Naruto whispered and met Sasuke's round eyes, reaching out to push his dark hair off his pale face. "This is your monster Sasuke, your fucked-up, shitty monster; but, just like all monsters, it has a weakness… _You._ "

Sasuke gazed at Naruto speechlessly for a moment, his dusky eyes glittering with something like wonderment. Abruptly he inhaled sharply and turned his face away into the bed covers.

"Sasuke?" Naruto raised himself, peering down at Sasuke.

"One second," Sasuke's voice sounded unnatural, strained with some kind of emotion, even as muffled as it was by the cottony duvet spread.

"Sasuke…" Naruto breathed, running his hand over Sasuke's dark tresses, feeling his lovely warmth deep within his black locks.

Sasuke let out a deep breath and rolled over again, he looked composed, although his face was a little flushed and his eyes still shone over-bright.

"Thanks," he murmured and Naruto saw that he really meant it.

"Yeah," was all Naruto said, but there were a thousand unspoken implications and nuances behind the single word.

* * *

Naruto lay awake at two-in-the-morning, watching Sasuke's chest rise and fall rhythmically in his sleep. He was stunning beneath the shaft of moonlight that caught his fair skin and turned it pearlescent. Naruto wondered at Sasuke's flawlessness as he reached out to trace the angle of his straight nose. So lovely, so bewitching…

Naruto had loved Sasuke for far longer than Sasuke had loved him he was sure. Time didn't matter though, not in their socially governed realm. They could have loved one another for a decade, one year, or as long as it took to lock eyes across a room; it was worthless as long as they were them.

Sasuke, who came from a world where marriage was a thing of contracts and good relations between companies. A eugenically driven process, between a man and a woman of wealth.

Naruto, who came from a stale nest of rot, bankruptcy, and wretchedness, was no closer to acceptance. It was okay to be gay now, that's what social media said. Come down to White Hill, that's what Naruto said. White Hill, where diversity was a frightening delusion of the xenophobic legion that ruled the streets. The sectarian estate was so poisonous with its flagrant displays of intolerance, Naruto couldn't face them, couldn't face putting his parents through the shame.

No matter how greatly he and Sasuke loved each other, and they did, none of it meant anything in the end.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed!

Please review! I love reading them!


	5. Chapter 5: Speed

Hello again! Super speedy update, I have waaay too much time on my hands...

I am so unbelievably happy with the reviews I've been getting, you guys are honestly just majestic beings!

So basically, oodles of rage in this chapter...I basically went ten rounds with my electric blanket last night, the cheeky fleacy scoundrel tried to escape down the side of my bed, so I think I'm channelling supreme blanket rage...

I hope you enjoy!

(I don't own Naruto ofc)

Side note: basically, this chapter was already posted once but wasn't updating properly D: so I've had to update hoping it'all work 'sob'

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Chapter 5.

Speed.

Rain misted the large picture windows in the Uchiha living room the morning that Sasuke was forced into prolonged contact with his brother. He was just watching gem like pellets trundle down the glass pane, collide and remodel themselves into fat pendants, when a sound came from behind him.

"You aren't at work yet?" Sasuke drawled in a disparaging tone as he took in his older brother, stood in the archway that lead to their dining room. Sasuke would quite like it if the engraving of the Uchiha Corporation fan on the keystone, mounted upon the lintel over Itachi's head, came crashing down. "I thought you slept there these days…Upside down… _Like a bat_ …" Sasuke simpered sweetly.

Itachi did not rise to Sasuke's baiting; he only stood rooted to the spot, taking Sasuke in with an amiable and entirely forced smile playing at his lips.

"Good morning to you too," he joked, joking did not suit Itachi in the slightest.

"What do you want, Itachi? I've got college in twenty-minutes, so just spit it out already," Sasuke sighed irritably, reaching towards his messenger bag flung in a heap by the long Chesterfield sofa.

"I saw that you're planning to go to Glastonbury with your friends," Itachi said trying to sound offhand. Sasuke halted, his eyes narrowing as his every nerve flared up at Itachi's words.

"How did you find that out?" Sasuke eyed him beadily and Itachi looked uncomfortable.

"You really shouldn't leave your laptop just lying…"

"Spying Itachi! Have you been _spying_ on me!? Are there no depths to which you won't plummet you absolute _cretin?_ " Sasuke demanded incensed as he tried to comb over all of the messages he'd swapped over Facebook recently, trying to pin down those which were the most incriminating "Good read was it? You are such a slimy little weasel Itachi, I can't even believe we're…"

"I'll pay," Itachi cut in quickly.

"I beg your pardon?" Sasuke ceased his bile fuelled ranting momentarily to ogle his brother in abject astonishment.

"I'll pay for your ticket," Itachi said with an easy-going shrug. Itachi was never _easy-going_ , his fastidiousness knew no limits.

"Will you fuck," Sasuke snorted with an eyeroll as his fingers twitched closer towards his bag.

"I've just come into some money, so I'll pay for your ticket," Itachi shrugged, turning to pick at a near-non-existent blemish on the duck-egg blue damask wallpaper. There was the Itachi Sasuke knew, the hypercritical purist.

"And why would you do that?" Sasuke asked suspiciously, "I don't know if you've noticed Itachi, but you're a bit of a prick," Sasuke confessed fairly.

"Are you always this rude to people who are trying to give you free money?" Itachi asked looking annoyed, the grooves hewn into his face deepening.

"No," Sasuke admitted honestly, "I reserve this amount of contempt and hostility for you," he told him graciously and Itachi pulled a withering face.

"Right, fine, whatever. I just think it's sad that all your friends are going to go off and have fun, and you're going to be stuck up in your bedroom with that bloody reptile." Itachi gestured upwards in the direction of Sasuke bedroom.

"Hey, leave Aoda out of this; do I complain about that feathered vermin you keep in your bedroom? Most people keep budgies, not crows, Itachi." Sasuke pointed out.

"Look, either take the money off me, go ask mum and dad – which we both know you won't do – or make some excuse to your friends and just hang out here and sulk, the choice is yours," Itachi spread his arms wide, as though displaying all of Sasuke's options on his trim shirt sleeves.

Sasuke hated to admit it, but Itachi was right, those were his options. He met his brothers schorl eyes; eyes that could be traced back to their every forbearer, and found it impossible to fathom the sincerity of their base.

"For real?" Sasuke asked tentatively.

" _Yes_ , for real," Itachi nodded looking exasperated.

"Wow, cheers Itachi," Sasuke grinned, snatching his bag off the floor and straightening up. "That's great." He moved towards his brother who smiled.

"You're welcome."

"You've gone up in my estimations, now you're only this much…" Sasuke held his hands a shoulders width apart, "Of a dick."

"That's still quite a lot, Sasuke," Itachi muttered, eyeing Sasuke's hands.

"Nah, you should've seen it before," Sasuke smirked and laughed when Itachi swatted at him playfully.

Sasuke didn't know what Itachi was up to, but what he did know was that he was going to Glastonbury, and for once he was on cloud-nine.

* * *

Sasuke's elation was short lived and his friends and future were entirely to blame.

It was time to fill out applications for university: _where did he want to go? Why did he want to go there? What did he want to do there? Who was he? Why was he fabulous enough to take on?_ Five seconds into applying and Sasuke was already having an existential crisis in the Konoha College IT suite.

He was taking a dual BSC Psychology degree split with Criminology. In his personal statement, they were asking him to write why he was going to be so fantastic as a psychology student. Well, how would he know? Wasn't that what _they_ were supposed to teach him? Maybe he didn't need university, maybe he could just abscond and live in a shack whittling wood somewhere. _No_ , he could move to the Falklands and his mother would still find him.

Sasuke glanced covertly about him; everybody else seemed close to implosion as well. Choji had one hand on the keyboard and the other dipping in his pot of rice pudding as his stared lifelessly as his computer screen. Shikamaru looked like he might vomit next to a furiously typing Temari, who was sweating with panic. Kankuro had actually thrown up his hands in defeat and left whilst even over-achiever Sakura looked spiritless.

"Hey, you're applying to Kirigakure," Naruto leant over Sasuke's shoulder and Sasuke nearly lunged sideways off his computer chair to prevent their cheeks from brushing. Naruto pretended not to notice Sasuke's strange behaviour and instead scanned Sasuke's university choices.

"You're applying too?" Sasuke tried to regain his composure.

"Sort of," he replied with a shrug, his tone casuistic. "I was actually thinking about taking a labouring apprenticeship with Choji's dad down the Akimichi scrap yard." He explained as if this news was nothing particularly special.

"Huh? What happened to your BA Hons in Animation? I thought that was a _huge_ deal? I thought you were the next _Ken Anderson_ or _Rodger Williams_?" Sasuke frowned, "please tell me I didn't sit through all that French Fantasmagorie crap and Winston McCay for no reason?" Sasuke asked, sounding appalled.

" _Crap_ , cult classics, Sasuke you dunce. Well, you know I've been giving it some thought, I'll definitely go and check Kirigakure out; but I just don't know if university's for me anymore, it's kind of expen…" a commotion interrupted Naruto and both he and Sasuke whipped around to investigate. Ino was on her feet snarling and hissing at a shamefaced Sai, who appeared to try and interject every now and then with a feeble 'I'm sorry.' Sasuke's gaze drifted to Kiba who had his gaze rooted to his computer monitor; he was the only one in the entire room not staring, Sasuke didn't think he could make himself look any more conspicuous if he tried. The hushed row culminated in Ino throwing her flaxen ponytail over her shoulder and storming from the I.T room, leaving them all stunned. Sai wasn't far behind her, looking like he could spit acid.

His friends began to mutter all around him, but Sasuke caught Temari's eye across the room and raised his eyebrow questioningly. She gave an almost imperceptible shake of the head and twitched her mobile phone which was resting on her lap. Temari was the link in the girl-chain that Sasuke frequently found himself referring to whenever some unexplainable catastrophe blew up amongst their friends. He turned his attention, unseeingly, back to his application and waited for Temari's text. When it came he slid his phone out and hid the screen under the hem of his jacket.

 _'Sai's fucked up, big time.'_ Temari wrote.

Sai had fucked up? Sasuke would beg to differ. However, it wasn't Sasuke's place to start wading in with his _'very informed'_ opinion. He knew not to ask Temari how Sai had messed up, because he knew Temari wouldn't tell him; things only got sticky when you started entangling yourself with gossip stew.

As they exited the building, no closer to university than they had been that morning, talk turned to Glastonbury.

"Itachi's paying for my ticket," Sasuke piped up, "he texted me an hour ago, he's already bought it."

"You lucky swine," Naruto sniffed.

"Yeah – he's _definitely_ up to something, he probably wants me out the house so he can flay Aoda and make some snakeskin galoshes; but hey, free money." Sasuke shrugged with a cheery grin.

"Urgh, I'm going to have to go massively into my overdraft to pay for this ticket – no wait, I'm already in my overdraft massively, I'm going to have to take out an overdraft on my overdraft. Do you know, I think I'll be the first student to leave university with less debt than I started with?" Naruto complained with a dramatic flail of the arms and Sakura chuckled.

"Me and Lee pulled a few extra shifts at The Valley of the End, so we're set," she shot a glowing look in Lee's direction and he beamed. They descended into chatter about the dilemmas of being young and needing money.

"So, Kirigakure open day, wanna car pool?" Naruto inquired, catching the back of Sasuke's jacket and pulling him back. Sasuke staggered slightly and fell into step beside Naruto.

"Huh?"

"The open day, go and have a look around? Let's go together. Even if I'm not sure I wanna go there, I still wanna look around," Naruto suggested and Sasuke blinked.

"Oh, yeah sure," Sasuke shrugged.

"It's down in Bournemouth, so the drive will take hours; if we leave early and let you sleep in the car so you don't get all a bit…" Naruto nodded towards Sasuke's head.

"Epileptic?" Sasuke finished for him with a wry grin.

"Yeah, then just get an Air B 'n' B down there and come back the next day." Sasuke halted at this, frowning.

"Stay the night?" He spoke the words as if he were testing them out.

"Yeah, otherwise I'm gonna be driving all day and all night," Naruto's brows drew together, "we don't have to but…"

"No, it's fine, let's stay the night," Sasuke said quickly, "that actually sounds fun."

* * *

Sasuke sat cross legged on his bed later that night, trying to focus on his Psychology revision, but failing under the constant distraction of Temari's texts. Shikamaru was meeting her family for the first time, and Sasuke was receiving a live stream of the absolute pandemonium occurring over the road. Temari's family was like Sasuke's and managed its fond connections via affluent echelons. It wouldn't have mattered if Shikamaru had spent a year volunteering in the rainforest with Greenpeace and carried a sick dolphin on his very shoulders; he wasn't rich, he wasn't good enough.

 _'No, you can't both come over mine. Stick it out you whimps. Don't let your uncle win.'_ Sasuke replied to Temari's latest desperate plea for aid. God knows Gaara didn't let Yashamaru win. Something barbed and igneous began to crawl in Sasuke's gut as his mind transported itself back to the scene in Kaguya's a few weeks previous in which he'd seen Gaara picking up off Zaku. What kind of drug had been in that little cling-film wrap? Coke, Mandy, Ket…Or worse? Sasuke scrubbed his face with the heel of his palm; he hadn't yet confessed to Temari what he had seen, he couldn't bring himself to spoil her happiness.

Sasuke's anxious ruminating was interrupted by a hectic hammering on his bedroom door.

"What?" Sasuke turned towards the door and was floored when his brother erupted into materialisation.

"Woah, Itachi," Sasuke took in his brother's crazed expression, his usually slick hair flighty from its ponytail.

"Sasuke, take this, just hide it – just for tonight," he insisted breathlessly, brandishing a briefcase and Sasuke saw the pupils of his brother's frenzied eyes darting with panic.

"Itachi, what?" Sasuke asked sluggishly as he eyed the black leather case.

"Sasuke, just do it, please!?" Itachi begged sounding on the brink of hysteria.

"Okay, okay," Sasuke held out his hands and deftly caught the case as Itachi hurled it at him. "What's in…" But Itachi had already whirled away and slammed the door behind him. Sasuke strained his ears, Itachi was heading downstairs at top speed towards the living room.

Feeling more confused than he had done in a long time, Sasuke turned his attention to the black briefcase nestled in his lap. It didn't look particularly special, just a coal-black, elk-skin case. He ran his thumbs over the brass rivets, licking his dry lips as he did so and unhooked the clasps. Inside of the briefcase there didn't seem to be anything particularly marvellous either. Just reams of formal looking documents. However, just as Sasuke was about to give up trying to find anything condemning, he froze. At the topmost, right-hand corner of the most imminent document, where the Uchiha Corporation logo should be emblazoned, there was instead a looping shape rather like a cloud. Sasuke knew that shape: it was the branding of the Akatsuki Company.

Sasuke whipped the document out and scanned it, acrid bile rising in his throat the more he read. This was a starting contract between the Uchiha company and the Akatsuki. Sasuke moved to the bottom half of the contract and his heart dropped into his stomach. Four shareholders had signed for the deal. Two for the Akatsuki company: Madara Uchiha and Nagato. Then there were the notaries for the Uchiha Corporation: Itachi Uchiha and… _Shisui Uchiha._ That was impossible, the document had only been signed the previous week, how was Shisui signing from beyond the grave?

Sasuke's hands were trembling as he clutched the sheet of paper, his wrists felt numb and his brain alight with a thousand thoughts trying to process all at once. He had to take this to his parents; he couldn't lie for Itachi. Wasn't he always asserting his hatred for Itachi? Wasn't he always telling people how much he loathed and abhorred his older brother? Why now then, when he had the opportunity to ruin his brother, was he faltering? Why couldn't he bring himself to tear his brother's world to shreds?

Shouting erupted from beneath him, startling Sasuke from his own confliction; there was a row happening below.

"Fuck," Sasuke hissed, as she shoved the briefcase out of sight down the side of his bed and darted off his bed.

Hurrying down the stairs, Sasuke drew short in his kitchen; the argument was happening in the living room and it sounded bad.

"All that we do for you," Fugaka was bellowing at Itachi, whilst Mikoto wept from the sofa.

Had they found out about Itachi's dealings with the Akatsuki?

"And you sneak around behind our backs talking to that man, Itachi!? You know what he did to us, to this family!?" Their father roared.

No, they had only found out about the phone calls to Madara, Sasuke thought, relieved.

"I give you a job, a home, a life, and this is how you repay me? If it wasn't for me Itachi and all the money I poured into you, you'd be on that White Hill estate with the rest of the degenerates and under-performing drop-outs!" Sasuke felt a surge of rage at this, did the self-entitlement of the elite know no bounds? Did the middle class think themselves so far above the rest of humanity?

"Oh, here we go again, yeah thanks dad, thanks for all your help, thanks for right royally fucking me up!" Itachi retorted nastily and Sasuke held his breath, he'd never heard Itachi lose control like that, heard him talk about himself like that. "Thanks for making me this small, dad!"

"Don't you dare!" There was a bang, something had been thrown, "don't you dare talk to me like that!"

"So what? So what if I spoke to my uncle? Jesus Christ dad! You're running your own family through the fucking business! You don't know jack-shit about your own kids!" Itachi laughed incredulously.

"I know enough!" Fugaku barked, seemingly unable to help himself.

"Do you, do you really? Because it's taken you fucking months to clock on that I've been in contact with Uncle Madara, and how long exactly was Sasuke having seizures for before anybody noticed?" Itachi spat acerbically. Sasuke twitched at the mention of his own name.

"Don't bring Sasuke's…"

"Why? Because you know us so well, dad and…"

"I know that I've got one dirty, conniving, ungrateful little cheat and one booze-muddled waster of a kid," Fugaku burst out.

"Fugaku!" Mikoto gasped in horror.

Sasuke's insides had turned icy. _'Booze-muddled waster of a kid.'_ There was no point pretending that he didn't know exactly who his father was talking about. Long held venom and pain that Sasuke hadn't even known he'd been suppressing was rising like a fever.

"See mum, his true colours come out now," Itachi was sneering, "You want to read all the clauses he puts in the company contracts, and I guess you wouldn't know that he's written Sasuke out of inheriting the company?" Itachi added darkly and a horrible silence settled.

All the air went from Sasuke and he felt his back hit the countertop. So, his own dad saw it too? Everything Sasuke saw when he looked in the mirror: the inadequacy, the paucity, the weakness; his father saw it all too?

"Fugaku?" Sasuke heard his mother begin slowly.

Sasuke had to be away from them, far away, before he started screaming until the veins in his throat ruptured. He had to be further away than he could get on foot and he turned to the kitchen draw where all miscellaneous items were kept. Straight after Sasuke had been diagnosed, he'd had his driving licence taken away, people with busted brains couldn't be trusted to operate vehicles. His parents hadn't sold his car though, maybe they were hopeful he'd be cured – then they found out there was no cure – maybe they were hopeful then that he'd hit the six-month seizure free target and get back on the road. Sasuke pushed aside a few loose batteries and peppermint tins until he found his old car-keys at the back of the draw. He was out of the house and in the garage before anybody could so much as utter his name.

Sasuke's black Range Rover Evoque was exactly as he remembered it. The cars lavish interior complementing its polished body, was just as spotless as Sasuke had left it the last time he had driven the car. He slid into the driver's seat and paused for a moment, considering the practicalities of what he was about to do; it was dangerous, if he had a seizure at the wheel, that could be his life snuffed out. Then his father's words came floating back to him: _'booze-muddled waster of a kid,'_ and all rational thought alluded him. He put his keys in the ignition and felt the engine start, the purring sensation went all through him: he was in control of that, he had made that happen.

He didn't need to think again, he just drove. He drove too fast, too recklessly, completely inattentive of the road ahead of him. He kept speeding up, wanting to becloud the world outside so that it was just him and his own little, removed fragment of the universe inside the car. He hit one hundred and ten on the speedometer before he'd even left Burgess Crescent. Faster, he urged the car.

Alienation, resent, fury, despair and uncertainty were all welling up inside him making him feel sick; the more he accelerated, the more chance he had of leaving them behind. His father had given up on him. Itachi was conspiring against the family. University was just around the corner and Sasuke was completely and utterly lost. His friends were falling apart. Then there was Naruto…

Then Sasuke's head went blank, like a pale mist had rushed into the void where his mind had once been. There was nothing but an unnatural twitching pressure behind his eyes.

The vacant spell only lasted seconds, but by the time Sasuke's head cleared, he gave a strangled cry and slammed down on the breaks. His seatbelt drew tight around his neck and he jolted forwards in his seat. When had he begun to veer off the road? Sasuke peered over the dashboard and saw that the nose of the car was mere inches from ploughing straight into a horribly robust looking oak tree. Had the absence seizure lasted a second longer, and Sasuke would've been wrapped around that tree, he noted in shock as he slumped back.

Near death on top of everything else that day had brought him, Sasuke could hardly believe his luck. To his horror, his eyes began to sear. He folded his arms on the cars steering wheel and pressed his face against his wrists, choking as tears began to edge their way down his cheeks. Now that the car wasn't moving, he was planted firmly in reality, and it was grim, grim enough to leave him sobbing.

There came a tapping on the car window and Sasuke pulled himself upright. A motorbike with two helmet clad people had pulled up beside his car. The person steering the bike gestured for Sasuke to wind his window down and he obliged. When the person flipped the visor of their helmet up, Sasuke met Temari's shocked green eyes; she must've followed him from Burgess Crescent, and that meant that the person on the back of her bike had to be Shikamaru.

"I saw you hoon off – you're not supposed to drive, Sasuke," she said sounding panicked. "You could've crashed, what's wrong? What's happened?" She glanced between each of his eyes as though trying to read his mind, but Sasuke only shook his head.

"I'll drive your car back," Shikamaru offered, pulling his helmet off and dismounting Temari's bike. "You don't have to explain to me, just don't try and drive again," he murmured, approaching Sasuke's door.

Sasuke nodded speechlessly and slid aside to allow Shikamaru entry.

* * *

Ever since Sasuke's drag-racing escapade, he'd felt strangely numb. It was like he'd let go of a part of him he'd been desperately clinging to, and now he couldn't even remember why he'd been holding onto it for so long.

He was just posting his repeat prescription at the GP – normally his mother did it for him, but none of his family were speaking anymore, the mood in the Uchiha home was bleak – when somebody said his same.

"Sasuke?" He turned, locking eyes with a very frightened looking young woman.

"Ino?" Sasuke frowned. "Why're you at the doctors?" Upon reflection, he realised the question might've been a rude one. However, he watched as her eyes darted from the door of the building and then back to him, her face tight with terror.

"Will you come with me?" She whispered…

* * *

Yass! Chapter 5!

Cliffhanger, ooh, I feel so mysterious...Edgy...Enigmatic ..


	6. Chapter 6: Tiny Dungarees

Hello!

Another pretty super speedy update...Way too much free time...

I literally cannot send enough love for your reviews, like genuinely, I get all excited at them, you guys are honestly amazing humans!

So, my cat helped me write this, she walked all over the keyboard several times. I'm definite anybody who owns a cat will know the trauma of the paw D:

I hope you enjoy this chapter - it's got oodles of love it it!

\- I don't own Naruto!

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Chapter 6.

Tiny Dungarees.

Sasuke wasn't entirely sure what he was doing there, as he took in the unnaturally hushed GP waiting room. There was a host of disparate people occupying the plush brown chairs. A few middle-aged men and women sat dotted around, all with the same glum expression pulling at their gaunt faces. Then there were the parents with their young children; who whizzed about the room, or played with the GP's provided toys, all of which wreaked and shone with an off-putting membrane of disinfectant. Finally, were the gaggle of OAP's, their white, wispy, mops, blowing comedically every time the tower fan blew in their direction. Sasuke had always thought that doctor's waiting rooms were a bit of a social club for the elderly, and judging by the way they were gossiping then, he hadn't been wrong.

Sasuke glanced sidelong at Ino, she hadn't uttered another word since her plea for him to accompany her into the GP. She was staring straight ahead of her, with the look of somebody trapped inside of a dreamlike stupor. Sasuke saw how she gripped the arms of her chair, like she was frightened she might slip out, and so he followed her train of vision. She was staring at a small child; the infant, no older than two, stood in a pair of dungarees playing cheerily with an abacus. Nothing special, just another baby. Catching him staring, Ino spoke.

"I'm pregnant," she admitted in a voice that fought to control itself.

Sasuke blinked, utterly stunned he looked at her.

"Oh," was all he could think to say.

"Yeah," she nodded, her voice quaking and met his eyes terror trembling deep within their strange, nacre-blue cores. "I can't…I can't go in there on my own, Sasuke," she gabbled desperately.

"No," Sasuke shook his head, seemingly only able to conjure single syllable responses. "No, of course not," he said quickly and Ino let out a long, shaky breath.

As they waited, Sasuke thought about Ino, and Ino becoming a _mum_. He had seen Ino in some states before at various nightclubs, pubs or even on their last day of secondary school. She wasn't the most moral amongst them. He tried to picture that girl, the girl that he had known to slam ten tequila shots, throw up in her clutch bag and carry on partying, that girl raising another person. Hadn't Ino had to re-sit her Business Studies GCSE because she'd forgotten the date it was on? How could somebody that irresponsible be dependent for another human? Sasuke felt guilty for thinking it, but he honestly didn't believe that Ino had it in her.

"Ino Yamanaka," a voice on the overhead intercom called out and he and Ino shared a look.

"Ready?" Sasuke asked as he rose to his feet. Ino opened and closed her mouth for a moment and although she resolutely set her face, Sasuke could see the absolute terror beneath her guise. It was for that reason, that he didn't shake her off when she reached out and grasped his fingertips.

Inside the small, rectangular doctor's office, Sasuke was beginning to worry about Ino. She was jittering so badly that the bib of necklaces around her neck was clanging like the symbols on a tambourine.

"Hello Ino, my name's Doctor Shizune Kato," the young doctor introduced herself kindly and Ino's lips twitched convulsively in a valiant attempt at a smile. "So, I can tell you that you are pregnant," Shizune told Ino gently as she pulled up some charts on her computer monitor. "So today, what we need to do is try and ascertain how far along you are and have a think about your options, okay? It's nothing to worry about." Sasuke thought Ino might've gone into shock and so gave her wrist a subtle shake.

Shizune began to press Ino with a number of intimate questions and Sasuke tuned out, both out of embarrassment and what he would like to think was polite chivalry. When Shizune directed Ino to the paper clad bed towards the back of the room, Sasuke followed awkwardly, not sure where to position himself.

"So, Ino," Shizune began when everybody was sat back down, "I would guess that you're eight weeks pregnant." It seemed that Ino couldn't suppress a little gasp at this. Shizune hesitated, looking concerned and her eyes travelled to Sasuke, lingering on him as though waiting for a similar response. She clearly thought he was the father, and Sasuke didn't blame her, it was a rational assumption.

"Ino your options are still…"

* * *

Sasuke and Ino didn't speak for a while as they walked outside the GP, in fact, they remained in silence right up until they rounded a cenotaph memorial and Ino froze. Sasuke drew to a halt behind her, watching her shoulders tremble. Sasuke knew what it was like to feel that frightened. To feel like you'd just been delivered some kind of life sentence. Have your whole life condemned and mutilated without explanation or warning. _One day, everything changed._

He reached out and pulled her towards him; turning her into his chest and holding her in close embrace. They stood stationary, Sasuke absorbing all of his friend's tears, beside the war memorial. He watched the red petals on the wreaths of poppies stir at the base of the cenotaph; rolling dead spider-plants and cigarette butts in their direction. It felt surreal to know that the rest of the world was still happening all around them.

"It'll be okay," Sasuke murmured, resting his chin atop Ino's head, "wanna go get a coffee?"

Sat outside the Starbucks, Sasuke watched Ino use her spoon to model the cream on top of her hot-chocolate, like it was a cloud of snow.

"Did you already know about me and Kiba?" She quizzed without looking up.

"Yeah," Sasuke answered honestly, she had trusted him, the least he could do was be upfront. She nodded slowly and then laid her spoon down carefully on her saucer.

"Kiba's just a friend, sleeping with him it was just a distraction…Sai he's…He's applied to study Fine Art in New Zealand in September, he went behind my back," she told Sasuke sounding tired. When she looked up there was an ancient weariness there that told him she had already resigned herself to Sai's choice. "He went behind my back. I thought we were _forever_. I suppose that's what everybody thinks isn't it? But then you find out you have an expiry date." She shook her head in frustration and lifted her drink to her lips.

"I'm sorry," Sasuke said sincerely, understanding finally what Temari had meant when she'd told him that Sai had: _'fucked up big time.'_

"Don't be," Ino said, smacking her lips. "This mess, I've made it; I thought I was being clever and look where I've landed myself. Eighteen and pregnant." She gave a bitter laugh and Sasuke fought not to wince.

"Do you know which one of them's the father?" Sasuke asked tentatively, running his finger around the lip of his coffee mug.

"Yes," Ino admitted, ducking her head over her drink, not revealing anything. "And I will tell him."

"You know you're going to have to tell Sai about Kiba as well, don't you?" Sasuke pointed out not without sympathy.

"Yeah, I know," she whispered, "I guess that expiry date is right around the corner, eh?"

* * *

It had been several days since Sasuke had parted ways with Ino at the doctors, and there had been no word of a rift in their social circle; she couldn't have come clean yet. Sasuke had to put Ino from his mind for one day though, as it was the Kirigakure University open day. He had been stuffed in Naruto's ramshackle Fiesta since four: a.m, and had been ready to get out five minutes into the journey. It transpired that the idle valve in Naruto's car had broken, so every now and then the car would over-rev itself and thrust Sasuke and Naruto forwards out of their seats. Never-mind epilepsy, Sasuke was broaching a myocardial infarction by the time they neared Bournemouth.

"I thought you said I was supposed to sleep on this drive!" Sasuke snapped; he'd resorted to pinning the sole of his foot against the glovebox to brace himself against further turbulence.

"Don't complain, we're nearly there," Naruto retorted, glancing down at Sasuke's phone which was open on Google maps. "I swear your phone's fucked."

"Your _head's_ fucked," Sasuke muttered under his breath.

"What!?" Naruto snapped.

"Nothing!" Sasuke barked back, glaring out of the window.

It was actually quite a pretty city; right by the seaside. They'd driven past picturesque pavilions, houses painted in pastel hues and a pier stretching over a meandering sandy beach. When they pulled up outside of the university, it was like they'd stepped into a different world.

The glass front building reared over them, unfolding it's great, sleek form, so far into the sky that the sun was invisible to Sasuke. Hundreds of nervous looking teenagers lingered around the front of the institution. Sasuke eyed the superstructure with a mingling feeling of excitement and dread, he might be looking at his future, staring independence and the unknown in the face.

"Come on," Naruto urged, pulling his keys out of the ignition.

Sasuke had to separate from Naruto to tour with the rest of the potential Psychology students, but he agreed to meet him in the Student Union Bar once they were both done. The tour was overwhelming. Sasuke remembered the first time he'd seen Konoha college after leaving secondary school, how impressed he'd been with the facilities. He realised now, how sheltered he'd been. Kirigakure University was state of the art, with vast, colosseum like lecture halls; all with tiered seats and desks facing a towering interactive board and stage. The six-story library was colossal and appeared to have books and thesis' everywhere: revolving on tall stands, lined up in alphabetical order on shelves or locked away in glass cases. Seas of cyber cafes, common rooms, restaurants and workshop spaces.

"This is one of our I.T suites, all of these computers are set up with SFC, which is a software all Psychology students need to use for surveying and data write ups," their tour guide indicated the room heaving with Macs.

Beside Sasuke, a boy whistled and he turned to catch his eye. The boy was an inch or so taller than Sasuke, had a shock of ginger hair and wore a soft looking lavender cashmere scarf drawn tight under his chin.

"Alright, mate?" The boy shifted his body to face Sasuke; his expression was the same as everybody else's: desperately anxious masked with a false bravado, Sasuke was sure he looked exactly the same. "Jugo," he introduced himself with an awkward smile.

"Sasuke," Sasuke replied, pleased to have struck up a conversation.

"See you later, dude," Sasuke raised a hand of farewell as he left Jugo at the mouth at the Student Union Bar. It was swarming with over excited teenagers and representatives for local businesses handing out vouchers and flyers. It took Sasuke a full ten-minutes, until he saw a flash of sunny hair.

"There you are," Sasuke breathed in relief, sliding onto the barstool opposite Naruto.

"Hey," Naruto smiled, pushing a pint towards Sasuke.

"So, how did it go?" Sasuke asked, swiftly sucking the head off his drink. He was surprised when Naruto only shrugged, holding his own drink to his lips and casting around the room looking oddly disdainful. "You didn't like it?" Sasuke quizzed, laying his own drink down and frowning.

"Yeah," Naruto nodded vaguely.

"Then what?" Sasuke pressed.

"It's great, I just don't know if this kind of thing's for me, y'know?" He met Sasuke's eyes and pulled a face, the kind of face somebody pulls when they're trying to swerve the seriousness of a matter.

"But…"

"I take it you loved it then? This place is right up your street," Naruto changed the subject and Sasuke brightened.

"Yes, it's amazing," Sasuke admitted barely able to contain his excitement.

"So, you think you're going to come here?" Naruto asked slowly and Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"I'd go to Timbuktu if it meant getting away from my family," he muttered acidly and Naruto's brows drew together.

"What?" Sasuke avoided Naruto's eyes, he wasn't ready for people to know how messed up he was inside.

"Just them being them; dad thinks I'm a raging alcoholic because I'm not _Itachi_ , so he's written me out of the will," Sasuke scoffed, he knew his voice sounded unnatural. "He's given Itachi the house as well, how fucked up is that?" He continued in his strained, abnormal tone. "And he doesn't even know Itachi is stabbing him in the back," Sasuke gave a hysterical little laugh. "So yeah, I think it's about time I cut ties." He finished.

To his horror he saw pity and the desire to give comfort in Naruto's eyes. He wasn't going to crumble again, not like he had behind the wheel of his Range Rover. He closed his hand quickly around his pint glass and pulled it to his face, taking a swig and hiding behind the amber liquid. He wasn't going to break. He couldn't afford to.

* * *

"This feels weird," Sasuke observed as they let themselves into the strangers flat.

"That's Air B 'n' B, for you," Naruto laughed, "we are in the hospitable hands of…" Naruto checked the piece of paper he'd been clutching, "Hayate Gekko."

It felt even weirder once they were inside; it really was like stepping into a stranger's home – which upon reflection, Sasuke supposed, was exactly what they were doing. The flat was modest and without the occupant present, unlit. The axminster in front of the telly could've done with a hoover and a great deal of the furniture was severely dated, however, the apartment was still pleasant.

"Just gonna get a drink," Sasuke told Naruto, dropping his duffel bag by the door and making his way to the kitchen. "Do you want…" Sasuke was caught off guard when a warm pressure found the heel of his palm and pulled him around. "Naruto, what…" Sasuke threw his hand out as he staggered backwards and caught himself on the formica kitchen countertop.

Naruto had caught hold of him, and stood before him so close that Sasuke could make out every fleck of kyanite and teal skating on the surface of his blue irises. There was a pause before Naruto began to incline his head towards Sasuke.

"Stop," Sasuke said softly and reached up to cover Naruto's mouth with his hand. His entire body was suddenly very conscious of the need to stop before he lost the ability to do so. Naruto leant away looking annoyed, at Sasuke, at himself? "It's not something you can come back from," Sasuke whispered.

"And I'm never going to be back here, Sasuke," Naruto said sharply, making Sasuke jump. "I am never going to get to leave White Hill, I'll never be here with you again. I am always going to be stuck and broke just watching you leave," Naruto's voice broke and Sasuke's insides surged. "I've lost my future, I'm going to lose you, I've lost…"

Sasuke didn't stop to think; he couldn't stand the hopelessness marring Naruto's voice. He couldn't endure the words coming from him. He reached out and hooked his fingers through the belt loops on Naruto's jeans, bringing their bodies together and brought his lips crashing down over Naruto's. The kiss was feverish and urgent as they grappled to release everything they'd held back for so long. Naruto ran his hands up Sasuke's sides and rested his fingers on the underside of Sasuke's jaw and cheeks, gently as though he thought Sasuke was breakable. Sasuke clung to Naruto as if he was the only think anchoring him to the planet; his whole body hyper-aware of every touch and every change in pressure. Lost in the moment he caught Naruto's bottom lip between his teeth and gasped when Naruto let out a low moan.

Sasuke thought, hoped, _prayed_ , that this was it, his life was this moment. However, his pocket began to vibrate and the moment was shattered; sick realisation came crashing down over Sasuke. _What had they done?_

He pulled away from Naruto and saw the same question stirring in his blue eyes. Sasuke did the only thing he could think to and slid his phone out from his pocket. He unlocked the device with shaking fingers and hunted the text.

"Oh my God," Sasuke blurted out and he felt Naruto train his gaze on him.

"What is it?"

"It's Gaara – Temari's brother – he's gone missing…"

* * *

So many feels yasss! And another cliffhanger! :O


	7. Chapter 7: Humans

Hello! This is chapter 7 :)

Thank you again for your amazing reviews! Hearts and like flowers to you all!

I keep seeing that people put warnings up for this kind of content so I suppose I should to? So, drug content!

I don't own Naruto!

Hope you enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 7.

Humans.

Sasuke's careful borders were closing in, threatening to mash his bones. He was mured in a cage, the bars of which were portentously close to driving through his flesh. He could still smell Naruto's scent, like patchouli and rose, nuzzled into his throat; surfacing with every stir of his pulse. It was like a bouquet of his disgrace and disgust. His lips were still raw and oversensitive from their kiss, and every part of him that Naruto had touched ached.

Neither of them had exchanged words since sliding into Naruto's car the moment after receiving Temari's text. Sasuke thought Naruto might be trying to avoid looking at him, as he watched him grip the steering wheel with his tanned and calloused hands, and stare resolutely ahead at the road. _Neither of them could be believe what they had done, both of them were nauseated and repulsed by their own weakness._ Maybe Naruto was sickened by him now, Sasuke thought, a painful twist in his gut. Maybe that was for the best, he told himself, turning his attention to the serpentine road ahead.

Sasuke's phone began to hum in his lap and he snatched for it, desperate for a distraction.

"Hi, Temar…" She was off before he could even finish.

"Where are you!?" She sounded frenzied and Sasuke leant forwards to try and catch a road sign.

"Somewhere on the M3? We just passed a sign for a turnoff for Farnborough?" Sasuke commentated unhelpfully.

"Hurry up!" She ordered, sounding like she was gritting her teeth.

"What's going on down there?" Sasuke asked, twisting away from the passenger window and slumping back down in his seat.

"Gaara's gone missing!" Temari cried as if this much were obvious and Sasuke pursed his lips.

"Temari, Gaara's gone missing before and…"

"He's been gone for _five days_ , and he emptied his bank account," she explained, sounding close to tears. "There was a grand in there, Sasuke," she whispered in a small voice.

Sasuke frowned, staring out the window at the towering chalk and scrub banks edging the motorway. It had started to rain, dragging a white silt from the slope onto the tarmac. Who would need one-thousand-pounds in cash? Who would need that much money and need it to remain untraceable? Sasuke closed his eyes as realisation crashed over him like icy water.

"I got it Temari, don't worry, we'll find him," Sasuke reassured, pushing himself up in his seat. "I'll call you later." He promised before hanging up and turning to Naruto. "I need you to drop me near yours." He told him.

"What?" Naruto looked baffled and Sasuke made an impatient noise.

"It doesn't matter where, as long as it's on White Hill."

* * *

Sasuke disembarked Naruto's car without an explanation, despite the other boy's protests.

"Don't follow, you'll only fuck this up," Sasuke warned, slamming the Fiesta's door so hard that it quivered in its frame.

"Sasuke…"

"I mean it," Sasuke warned coldly, catching Naruto's eye for the first time since Kirigakure; they looked different from such a distance, more banal than Sasuke remembered. Sasuke took a deep, steadying breath before speaking again. "Don't follow me Naruto, you'll only ruin _everything_." The demand was laced with equivocation, however they both knew what Sasuke was getting at.

"Whatever, Sasuke," Naruto muttered, equalling Sasuke's frostiness and started his car.

Sasuke watched Naruto pull away, before pulling his hood up over his rain mottled hair, and turning away into the night.

White Hill was everything Sasuke wasn't used to. Rows of interchangeable council properties, towering, burnt-out, blocks of flats, with washing lines stretched over the balconies. Sasuke watched the clothes and bed sheets of the occupants grow heavy and sodden in the rain, some falling from the lines and into the street below. Nothing in the place was whole, everything was a little bit broken

He jammed his hands deep inside his pockets and hurried deep into sin's seedy underbelly.

Sasuke knew he'd found the right place when he came to a cluster of particularly squalid properties, outside of which milled a few people.

"Sasuke?" Sasuke turned at the sound of his name.

Tayuya was coming towards him out of the darkness. Her red hair was longer and thinner than when they had been together, though still plastered to her skull by a bandage wrapped about her forehead. Even from his distant vantage, Sasuke could see that Tayuya's pupils were like a rat's against her woody irises.

"Tayuya," another girl pushed herself away from a chain link fence. Sasuke recognised this girl too, with long dark hair and a beige gilet hugging her body tightly: Kin Tsuchi. "Wait," Kin warned and caught hold of Tayuya's wasted wrist.

Sasuke frowned, but understood Kin's odd behaviour when he turned around. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he was confronted with a man, leaning against the wall of the house, a man he was sure hadn't been there seconds before. The man was the most alien creature Sasuke had ever laid eyes upon. He was tall and such was his emaciation he looked cadaverous. Hair crept in oily tentacles to his waist, as dark as soot in stark contrast to his bleached skin which was waxen pulled around his skull-like face. There was something so terrifying about the beast-like man, that Sasuke wanted to step back and put some distance between them, but he was rooted to the spot. The man's eyes drifted over Sasuke, assessing him; the greed and hunger Sasuke detected in those wanton eyes, made bile sear in his throat.

"White or brown?" The man hissed finally, reminding Sasuke remarkably of Aoda. White or brown what? _Rice?_

"Uh, what?" Sasuke asked slowly and far from looking irritated, the man's thin lips quirked up at the corner.

"Powder or pills?" He reiterated.

Sasuke inhaled sharply and began to shake his head.

"No, neither, I'm looking for…" However, in one sinuous movement, like a snake, the man caught Sasuke beneath the chin. Sasuke froze, going statuesque as he stared up into the man's ageless face. He could feel how the nail on the man's little finger was so much longer than all the others, he could remember Tayuya growing hers like that.

"To see light fall into place, to smile until you unravel, to feel your fingers sting…To feel human again…" The man murmured and then leered as he locked eyes with Sasuke. " _Orochimaru_ can always, _always_ , hear when a heart stops; how long will you spend lifeless, Sasuke?" Orochimaru purred and Sasuke felt goosebumps erupt up his arms.

"I just want to find my friend, he's only fifteen," Sasuke mumbled, making to knock the pale man's hand away. However, Orochimaru caught Sasuke's hand and he felt as something small was pressed into his palm.

"First one's free: MXE. Your friend's in there." Orochimaru smirked and gestured to a side door beside some rubbish bins. "I'll see you soon, Sasuke." Orochimaru called as Sasuke hurried away, desperate to get away from the man. Shoving the small package he'd given him deep inside his jacket pocket.

* * *

From the outside, the door into the dingy house had looked innocuous; once inside however, Sasuke had discovered that this was all a ruse. The door was in fact a fortified steel door, rather like the kind you might find in a prison. As soon as he was shut in the house, Sasuke gagged and covered his nose with his sleeve; the whole place reeked of cat urine. Although, Sasuke was sure there were no cats present, the smell was undercut with something chemical, a synthetic odour.

"Gaara?" He called, as he headed for the staircase, trying not to take in too much of the squalor as he went. "Gaara?" He hurried up and was faced with a choice of two rooms. "Shit," he breathed.

Men and women, young and old, were scattered around the rooms. All of them were absolutely catatonic. Some were lying flat on their back on the stained and ripped carpet. Others were propped up against the walls, spittle coating their chins, their eyes heavily lidded. There was a commonality though, all of them had a ligature tight around their upper arm, a needle in their vein and sores on their lips.

Sasuke picked his way through the sea of addicts; careful not to disturb one or step on any of their paraphernalia.

"Gaara?" He whispered, searching every slack face he came across. "Gaara?" Maybe the man had lied, maybe Gaara wasn't here after all all and…

"Gaara!" Sasuke knelt beside the seemingly unaware boy and heaved him up by the shoulders. There was a clatter and Sasuke saw that a needle, a fascicle for the rest, had slid from Gaara's forearm. "Jesus Christ, Gaara," Sasuke whispered, kicking the syringe aside whilst trying to support the teenager. Gaara's limbs just did not seem to want to cooperate with him, they kept buckling and crossing over like a broken marionette. He was definitely conscious, but that didn't mean he was able to respond to Sasuke. "Okay," Sasuke nodded, trying to keep calm as he slid his phone out.

"No emergency services here; you don't bring them here." A voice spoke abruptly behind him and Sasuke turned to see a man with silver hair and round spectacles. "You take him, he's your problem." The man shrugged.

Sasuke turned slowly to look back at Gaara and swallowed hard.

"Okay, okay, come on, Gaara," he spoke in a voice of false calm as he pulled Gaara to his feet, holding him upright. "Let's go."

* * *

Sasuke only knew one other person who lived on the White Hill estate, and it was the last person he wanted to see.

"Okay Gaara," he assured Gaara gently; the teenagers knees had started to give way a few blocks ago and now that they'd finally reached their destination it seemed he was giving up the ghost. Sasuke hammered on the door, wracking his brains for a way to explain the situation.

When the door opened, it wasn't Naruto who answered, it was his mother Kushina. Dressed in a green pinafore and frilly overcoat.

"Hi, Kushina," Sasuke said slightly breathlessly.

"Sasuke," she gasped, taking him and Gaara in, her eyes round as saucers. "What on earth? Come in!" She stepped aside permitting Sasuke and Gaara passage.

"Thanks." Sasuke hauled Gaara over the threshold with difficulty and dumped him as soon as possible on the Uzamaki sofa.

"What happened, Sasuke?" Kushina appeared beside him just as Sasuke was flexing his aching shoulders.

"Long story," he groaned, "I'll leave soon, I just need to get hold of Temari – Gaara's sister," he gestured to a dazed looking Gaara. Kushina watched as Sasuke searched his pockets for his phone.

"Mum, what's going…" Naruto stopped on his way down the stairs, catching sight of Sasuke with his phone pressed to his ear. Sasuke watched Naruto's face drain of colour, but made no move to acknowledge him.

"Hey, Temari…I've got him," Sasuke said the second Temari picked up the phone. "I'm down White Hall, at Naruto's. You're going to need to come pick him up though," Sasuke told her, glancing in Gaara's direction. "He's…Yeah, he's alive and upright," Sasuke informed her; it wasn't a lie. "See you in a bit." Once Temari had hung up, Sasuke turned to face Kushina. "Gaara's had landed himself in some trouble; I knew some of the kids, Tayuya and Kin…"

"Tayuya?" Naruto descended the remaining stairs approaching them. "So he's…"

"Yeah," Sasuke nodded, "he's high."

* * *

Sasuke left Naruto's house with Temari and her uncle. Yashumaru wasn't impressed, he clamoured all drive; it was as though he'd predicted something like this would happen. Temari didn't interrupt and when Yashumaru hauled Gaara into his home, Temari stood out on the pavement with Sasuke. She looked small and shocked underneath the halo a streetlamp cast over her.

"I can't believe it," she whispered, "I can't believe he'd go this far." She shook her head, looking dazedly down Burgess Crescent.

"He can come back from this, both of you can." Sasuke assured her, the wind and rain picking up his hair and plastering it to his cheeks.

"How did you know?" She asked suddenly and Sasuke blinked. "How did you know he was there? You found him so quickly, how did you know?" She met his eyes, her own earthy pair searching.

"I…" Sasuke glanced at the pavement beside her foot. "Temari, I saw him," Sasuke confessed. "With Zaku, I saw him a few weeks ago, he was picking up at Kaguya's." Sasuke glanced up at her. He found that her face was frozen in a half thoughtful, half confused expression. "Temari?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked suddenly.

"What?"

"Why did you leave it this long?" She asked sharply and Sasuke blinked; _why had he left it this long?_ "Why did you leave it so long Sasuke? _This_ , this might not have happened?" Her eyes were flashing with a mad fury.

"Temari…"

"Why did you lie to me!? You're supposed to be my best friend!" She shouted, her hands spasming with temper. "Why Sasuke? Why would you do this to us? To my family? To me?" She bellowed, her voice carrying on the rain and Sasuke shook his head.

"No, you're wrong, I didn't mean…" Sasuke began frantically.

"Get fucked, Sasuke!" Temari cried, turning and fleeing from him.

Sasuke stood watching her go, the rain making its slow descent under the collar of his jacket and down his spine. After a while, he made his way across the street, towards his own home feeling completely detached from the world.

Just as he was about to let himself through the gate that lead up his front garden, however, the sound of a car stopped him. He drew up and turned to see a silver C70 Volvo pulling away from his drive. The car had its full beams on, nearly blinding him and so he could barely glimpse the person in the car. He only caught sight of hands, a young woman's hands with small purple fingernails and the base of a pale, angular jawline; before the car was gone.

"You weren't supposed to be home today," Itachi sounded alarmed as Sasuke burst through the front door.

"Yeah, well, surprise," Sasuke muttered, heading for the kitchen. "I'm late taking my pills, where are they?" He shouted, clumsily brushing aside stacks of post, knocking fridge magnets and post cards off the fridge.

"Why're you back?" Itachi sounded unnerved and he looked strange too; unkempt.

"Because I am, Itachi, fuck, where are my pills? And there was some woman in our drive." Sasuke gestured disinterestedly.

"Was there?" Itachi asked, clearing his throat unnaturally.

"Yeah, where's mum?" Sasuke asked, finally finding a strip of Keppra.

"Out at some doo in the town hall," Itachi said with a small shrug, watching Sasuke rush the pill down his throat.

Sasuke felt the pill slide down his throat and closed his eyes. The pill that would only amplify his every worry, his every suffering; he didn't even know what was him and what was the medication anymore. Maybe they were the same thing. Maybe that was who he was now.

"How was the open day?" Itachi chanced and Sasuke opened his eyes.

Kirigakure. Memories of everything that had happened earlier that day came flooding back to him. Naruto pressed against him, Naruto's smell, Naruto driving away from him.

"Fine," Sasuke told him flatly, pushing past his brother and running for the stairs.

"Sasuke?" Itachi shouted sounding alarmed.

Sasuke erupted into his room and slammed the door behind him. He didn't even make it to the bed; he simply sunk to the floor and sat, feeling dazed and adrift. _Naruto. Gaara. Temari. Itachi._ What came next?

Sasuke reached into his pocket and pulled out the small parcel Orochimaru had gifted him. It was a tiny clear bag of fine white powder: _'To see light fall into place, to smile until you unravel, to feel your fingers sting…To feel human again…'_

What would Sasuke do to feel human again?

* * *

Oooh, shadeeee!


	8. Chapter 8: Dust

Hello!

Ooh Chapter 8!

Plot threads starting to come together...Majestic!

Thank you for your reviews, SO MUCH FRICKIN LOVE!

Hope you enjoy!

(I don't own Naruto)

* * *

Chapter 8.

Dust.

The sun was high that afternoon, like an auroral pin in the clement sky. The sun's synchronization with the past few days, had dried out the grass leaving every spring-green blade rubbery and soft. The clovers huddled close to the earth, no longer steins for the rain, looked fleshy and healthy. Hopeful daisies stippled the stretch of greenery, the heads open and inclined towards the light; it finally felt like summer.

However, for the sixth formers, whose final exams were mere days away; the lovely weather was just another of education's needling taunts. Sasuke sat in Konoha College's courtyard with a small cluster of his friends, scores of textbooks spread all around him. He needed two A's and one B to meet his conditional offer at Kirigakure University. Maybe, these had once seemed obtainable grades, but now, when it counted the most, nothing was going in. Sasuke gazed down at: _'Bowlby's evolutionary theory of attachment,'_ willing his brain to assimilate just one thing. This had all seemed so easy a few years ago when he'd breezed his GCSE's with straight A*'s, all whilst wasting his weekends away to music, friends, drink and smoke. _Why was it so hard now?_ All that college time he'd missed due to seizures had left gaping holes in his knowledge.

He might find it easier to study if Temari wasn't glowering at him from across the circle. It appeared she wasn't only saving her enmity for Sasuke for the first time in a fortnight; he watched as she shot a resigned looking Shikamaru dirty looks. It didn't help Sasuke's case that he and Naruto had very deliberately put Kiba and Shino between them; they hadn't spoken since they'd separated on Naruto's doorstep two weeks previous.

"Struggling?" Shino inquired as he edged a ladybird off the back of his wrist.

"Not really," Sasuke lied, wondering why he was always doing that, always lying and telling his friends everything was fine when everything was wrong, falling out of hand.

The small cellophane bag of MXE still sat tucked inside the card compartment of his wallet. Untouched, but not yet disposed of. Sasuke's pocket felt heavy with the occupancy of the gram of dissociative dust _. It was no wonder he couldn't focus on revision._

Everybody else had their vices to cope with the stress. Kiba was on his tenth can of Red Bull, having evolved from Relentless and caffeine pills. Shino had 'Supersonic,' on loop, how he wasn't fed up of Oasis yet, Sasuke didn't know. Choji had a rucksack full of Lucozade tablets, the kind they gave diabetics to up their sugar levels and gave those with normal glucose levels an incredible sugar rush. Sakura was popping and cracking bubblegum, shoving in a new strip every five minutes until her cheeks bulged like a hamster's. Lee spent more time in the gym running on a treadmill than walking on regular soil. Kankuro had a bottle of rum, Temari had Silk Cuts, and Shikamaru slept so much, Sasuke was surprised he even knew the exams were coming up. Naruto was the worst; his vice was simply glowing zeal and positivity.

"Lee, which bone's the fibula?" Kiba quizzed, looking irritably down at his textbook, a few blades of grass trapped in the spine.

Lee opened his mouth to reply, but no sound came out as his eyes strayed to something behind Kiba's head.

"Oi!" Somebody shouted, "Inuzuka!" Everybody whipped around at the sound of Kiba's name, ironically, Kiba turned last looking confused. His face turned ashen however, when he saw Sai heading towards them looking thunderous. In Sai's wake, Ino jogged looking desperate, trying to catch onto his arm, but Sai ripped himself from her grasp time and time again.

Kiba rose to his feet and slowly drew his hands in front of his chest, like he was surrendering.

"Sai…" He began.

"You fuck my girlfriend?" Sai demanded as soon as he was close enough to them. Sasuke saw Kiba glance towards Ino and observed how his throat worked anxiously.

"Yeah, I did, but…" Kiba began in a hoarse voice. However, he didn't get the chance to finish before Sai swung for him. Everybody yelped and jumped back where they sat as Kiba staggered, clutching his jaw. Red Bull was sent flying all over Sakura's pristine bullet journal and she cursed in fury, blood sprayed Shino's iPod and he cried: " _Noel!_ " And Sai's usually inky and paint smeared knuckles were sanguine and raw. "What the fuck, man!?" Kiba roared, stumbling upright and fixing Sai with a murderous glare. "Seriously, _what the fuck_!?"

" _What the fuck?_ You slept with my girlfriend and knocked her up! That's what!" Sai exploded advancing on Kiba again, but Lee and Kankuro were on their feet, restraining him. "Get the fuck off me," Sai spat, trying to shake them off.

"What!?" Kiba choked, ogling Ino, "You're what?" Kiba gasped in a strangled voice and Ino shook her head looking frantic. Sai struggled furiously, crushing some of Sasuke's Psychology notes underfoot as he kicked out.

"Oh, didn't you know!?" Sai asked in bitter incredulity, "you're going to be a dad Kiba, congratulations," Sai's voice dripped with caustic loathing. Kiba shook his head looking like he'd just been hit round the head with one of Sasuke's enormous textbooks.

"Sai, no!" Ino cried fearfully, trying to reach for him again, but he threw her off like she was covered in something poisonous.

"What, you just couldn't help yourself, Kiba? I mean, I know your family are dog obsessed freaks, but have you actually morphed into some humanoid-bestial hybrid that can't fucking control itself?" Sai snapped and Kiba let out a snarl.

"Take that back, Sai, take that back about my family," Kiba warned and Sai's eyes flashed.

"Why? You'll be welcoming some more sub-human scum soon, empty a draw Kiba, it's about all you'll be able to afford." Both Naruto and Sasuke lunged, pinning Kiba's arms behind his back before he could charge at Sai.

"And since when the fuck did you become Mr. Monopoly, Sai? Fucking hop off your high horse you absolute cock!" Kiba roared, wrestling against Naruto and Sasuke to get at Sai.

"At-least my mum's not some scrounging chav with more kids than she can afford; I bet she'll be over the fucking moon you've got one on the way!" Sai howled and Kiba doubled his efforts to escape Sasuke and Naruto's hold.

"You son of a bitch!" Kiba cried.

Sasuke was trying to catch Sai's eye, to warn him it was time to stop, that he'd gone too far. The things that were coming out of his mouth, they weren't right, they were the kind of entitled, pyramid building beliefs that their parents espoused; they had no place amongst their friends.

"Sai no!" Ino finally bellowed, "it isn't Kiba, it's _you_ ; you're the dad!" She shouted, her voice petering out slightly at the end.

A silence descended, so great it surely enveloped the entire college. Sai stared at Ino in disbelief for a moment and then he turned to look at them all. His expression was morose as his usually pale face flamed crimson.

"You all knew, didn't you?" He accused, "I was the last to find this out, wasn't I?"

Technically, Sasuke thought, Kiba was the last to find out about the pregnancy; not the cheating, but the pregnancy. However, it didn't feel like the right moment to split hairs; Sasuke knew when to read a room.

"What the fuck is wrong with you all?" Sai shook his head. "We're always saying what great friends we are, when all we ever do is lie to each other." Nobody spoke as Sai's words sunk in. "We might've been friends once, but I don't even know you people anymore…I don't think you do either…That's it, it's over…"

* * *

Temari and Sasuke sat with their legs hanging over the edge of the Roman viaduct, staring out over the dropwort and betony infested meadow, as the sun set over the horizon.

"I'm sorry we fought," Temari said finally, her face flushed apricot in the setting suns glow.

"I'm sorry for not telling you about Gaara sooner," Sasuke murmured as a sylvan smelling breeze rushed over him. Temari shook her head and smiled.

"I know why you did it," she said without further explanation. They didn't speak for a moment, before Temari began to strip a piece of wheat grass in her lap. "It turns out he's been hooked on the drugs for a while; it started with Ket when he was thirteen and then just snowballed," she explained sounding remarkably reposed.

"Oh, wow," Sasuke raised his eyebrows.

"Gaara's had it different to me and Kankuro," she continued, "you know, with mum dying when he was born and stuff. I kinda feel like he feels responsible, and I think Uncle Yashumaru thinks Gaara's responsible too," she shook her head looking miserable. "You can see why he'd want to self-destruct," she said with a shrug.

"I guess," Sasuke murmured, watching her closely. "So, what happens now?" He asked and Temari gave a low, humourless laugh.

"Dad's coming back to deal with him," she raised her eyes to the landscape ahead.

Sasuke didn't say anything, he didn't need to. In all the years he'd know Temari, he'd only met her father Rasa once, and that was only as he discussed business with Fugaku.

"And now Kankuro's decided he's not going to uni anymore," she said in a voice that was rising unnaturally. When Sasuke looked at her she shook her head. "Yeah, no, he's going to move to Aurillac in France and become a street performer; how great is that going to be when he tells my dad?" She said looking incredulous and Sasuke drew his face into a look of deepest sympathy. "Oh, and here's the best part, ready?" She sounded close to hysteria, "you know Shikamaru? You know how we've finally made it together after all these years? Yeah, he's enlisted." She finished, sounding cold and hollow.

"Enlisted?" Sasuke echoed, "as in joined the army?"

"Yeah, the week after Glastonbury, he joins a training base in West Germany." Sasuke saw the bottom lids of Temari's eyes were sparkling with dewy tears.

"Temari…" Sasuke whispered, reaching out and taking her hand, trying to absorb all the information she'd just piled on him.

"I just thought, that this was it, you know? That this was our year. Everything was supposed to be bloody fucking brilliant from here on out; we're supposed to be masters of our own destiny." She turned her eyes on him, as bright as shamrocks, "But everything's already fucked up Sasuke. My family's fucked, Kankuro's future's fucked, Gaara's fifteen and hooked on drugs, Shikamaru's signed his life away, Ino's pregnant, Sai and Kiba aren't speaking, you're sick and you and Naruto have fallen apart…I mean, what happened?" She whispered. "I wanted everything to change – but not like this."

Sasuke stared down at her crown, the different wisps of gold and copper interlacing her parting. He didn't know how to comfort her, he didn't know what to say, because in all honesty, she was right. When Sasuke had been sixteen and about to start college, cocky with his handful of A*'s and casual girlfriend Karin; he'd thought, when he turned eighteen, his whole world would open up. He realised now, how much it had closed in on him in the past two years. His failing health restricted him more and more by the day as the crippling side effects of his medication played his head on a turbo-spin. His friends were so fragmented that he could no longer rely on them. His family was in a state of disrepair. He hadn't wanted to kiss Naruto two years ago either.

"We'll be okay," Sasuke put his arm around, but his words sounded empty and artificial.

* * *

Sasuke bid Temari farewell in the centre of their street and headed for his home. He hesitated though; there it was again, parked in the Uchiha drive, that silver Volvo C70. Frowning, Sasuke keyed in the code and let himself into his front garden and made his way to the front door.

"Yo, who's in?" He shouted, slinging his messenger bag haphazardly in the direction of the living room. "Family, this is your youngest son and most challenging son, answer me?" Sasuke called again until he noticed that the kitchen door was shut. "I'm sorry, are you having some kind of family party that I wasn't invited to…" Sasuke trailed off as he pushed the door wide and revealed the occupants of the kitchen.

Inside, on either side of the kitchen, like gladiators stood ready to go to battle was: his mother and father, Itachi and the woman Sasuke assumed owned the Volvo C70.

"What the…" Sasuke edged into the kitchen, but his voice died when the kitchen door slammed behind him, two more people. Obito Uchiha and…

 _"Shisui?"_

* * *

 _Oooh, cliffhanger...The mystery...The tension..._

 _Review please! I love reading them!_


	9. Chapter 9: Sex is in Vogue

Yasss Chapter 9!

Double points if anybody remembers Izumi from Naruto!

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 9.

Sex is in Vogue.

Sasuke stood reeling, his eyes fixed on his cousin. Shisui only stared back at Sasuke, unspeaking and unmoving, seemingly unwilling to be the one to break the silence.

"Your brother has sunk the company, Sasuke," Fugaka finally said in a wintry voice. "Him, his girlfriend Izumi, Shisui, Obito, Madara, the Akatsuki; they've taken everything, even the house." Sasuke looked to his father, whose eyes were nebulous stones in his skull. "It was all a plan, everything's gone."

"What?" Sasuke asked slowly, his voice coming out sluggishly, his tongue not wanting to cooperate. "Itachi's done what?" His eyes strayed to his brother; it was impossible, Itachi would never…

"You can't deny that this wasn't deserved," Itachi's voice was pensive as he met their father's eyes. "After your union wealth and inheritance plans with the Hyuga Plant, you can't deny that this is a moral justice," Itachi narrowed his eyes and Fugaku's lip twitched.

"You actually did this, Itachi?" Sasuke breathed, feeling light headed, "you've actually done this to us?" Itachi turned to look at Sasuke, his expression stricken.

"Sasuke, there are things you don't understand…"

"Like what? You've made us homeless," Sasuke choked gazing at his brother; the same brother who'd picked him up sobbing off the playground floor when he'd fallen from the monkey bars. The brother who'd stood between him and his parents during their screaming match. The brother who'd called the ambulance when Sasuke had twitched and muttered incoherently from the bathroom floor. "You've destroyed our family, Itachi," Sasuke shook his head in disbelief.

"No, not you Sasuke; you'll stay with me if mum and dad do the right thing and leave me wardship of you, you'll stay here with Izumi and I." The woman beside Itachi tried to smile at Sasuke encouragingly. "It's just them, _they_ have to go." Itachi's voice was hard as he looked at their parents.

Sasuke's eyes moved to Shisui and Obito, who stood looking wary by the ardour.

"Did you plan all of this?" Sasuke directed at the pair of them. "Did you fake your death to push my dad into giving Itachi the house?" The look Shisui shot Itachi was confirmation enough for Sasuke. "The coroner who pronounced you dead, who was he?" Sasuke whispered, and it was Obito who answered.

" _She_ , and there was no coroner, just my wife Rin, or rather Dr. Nohara; Rin's a pathologist, it was easy for her to fake a certification of death. She quit her job the next day, there's no tracing the fraud back to her, either," Obito's eyes lingered on Sasuke's parents, the hint of a threat stirring within their midst.

Sasuke gaped from Obito, to Shisui and then to his brother, who was eyeing Sasuke warily.

"Sasuke, I know how this looks, but you have to understand…"

"No, Itachi, I don't have to understand _anything,"_ Sasuke shook his head, "what I do understand is, that I'm not one of you people, you're all monsters…That's it, I'm out…" Sasuke held his hands up and began to back out of the room.

"Sasuke," his mother whispered in a tremulous little voice but Sasuke ignored her.

That was it. He was done with them. Their exclusive ordinances, their subversive tactics, he was simply done.

* * *

Sasuke knocked on the door that he thought he'd never face again and stepped back. Evening was rapidly approaching now, no longer was the sky streaked with ribbons of persimmon, but instead violet and indigo.

The battered door swung open and Sasuke inhaled sharply, dreading the response he might receive. He met Naruto's eyes, which flew wide with surprise upon finding him there, dishevelled and anxious looking on his doorstep.

"Please don't tell me to go away," Sasuke said quickly, "I just need you to be my friend, I just need it to be before everything got fucked up."

Sasuke sat on Naruto's single bed, staring around his bedroom. You could barely make out the water-stained, artex walls, for posters and photographs of their friends. The bedrooms tiny floor was littered with clothes, PS2 games and bursary afforded textbooks. At the end of Naruto's bed snoozed his enormous ginger cat, Kurama, occasionally extending one leg languidly.

"What's going on then?" Naruto asked, passing Sasuke a can of Sprite, as Sasuke admired a photo of himself, Naruto, Sai, Shino, and Kiba dressed as thunderbirds at some Halloween party four years previous.

"Just my family being spectacular twats," Sasuke informed with an evasive shrug.

"Right," Naruto spoke with a small frown, "wanna elaborate; it's just your family are frequently astonishing wankers, but you've never shown up at mine before looking like a dying duck." Naruto pointed out and Sasuke cast him a look of deepest disdain.

"That is not how I look," he muttered and set his can down on a CD rack. "But fine, Itachi's stolen everything off my dad and is kicking my parents out; so yeah, we've hit a new low in the Uchiha household, 2k17, the year we live to outdo ourselves," Sasuke snorted, rolling his eyes.

"You serious?" Naruto looked floored, "that's nothing to laugh at, Sasuke," Naruto raised his eyebrows as he took a seat beside him, disturbing Kurama.

"You don't have to tell me that," Sasuke grumbled.

"So, what happens now?" Naruto asked, drawing his feet up onto the bed and Sasuke shrugged.

"I dunno, I guess my parents are gonna have to leave; we've got family down South, so I guess that's where we'll go," Sasuke flopped his head back, kicking his ankles against Naruto's valance.

"You're going to go with them?" Naruto asked steadily.

"Well," Sasuke turned to look at Naruto, "where else would I go?" He sighed, not having really thought about the full repercussions of Itachi's actions.

"So, you're going to move away?" Naruto asked sounding hollow and Sasuke jerked his head.

"Only for a bit, I'll be in uni soon, so it's not like I'll be sticking around." He pointed out.

"Don't go," Naruto said abruptly and Sasuke looked at him.

"What?"

"Just stay here, until September when you go, just stay here," he implored and Sasuke felt his chest tighten.

"I can't," he shook his head, "I just can't."

"Fine, but…" Naruto caught Sasuke's forearms and tugged so that he was facing him. "Before you go, let's actually talk, let's actually talk about us because I'm sick of avoiding you Sasuke; sick of pretending like we both don't know exactly what's going on between us," Naruto looked down at his hands clasped in his lap and bit his lip.

Sasuke eyed him and maybe it was fear or just the need to erase all the pain inside of him that made him do what he did next.

"No," he whispered, "no more talking." He caught Naruto's chin and pulled him into a kiss.

At first, they only brushed lips, softly and tentatively, as though they were testing one another; simply exploring the moment. Then everything intensified, their every movement became feverish; little gasps escaping Sasuke as Naruto wrapped his fingers in his hair and trailed his hand down his spine.

"No more talking," Naruto agreed as Sasuke gripped Naruto's shoulders and pulled him down over him. They locked eyes, Naruto's glittering with wonderment as his pupils ballooned. Sasuke nodded before reaching up and locking his hands firmly around Naruto's back.

* * *

Sasuke woke hours before Naruto, everything in the bedroom was a dreamlike shade of lavender-grey, where the sun had barely set outside. He lay staring up at Naruto's ceiling, his insides feeling strangely dulled as he tried to process what he'd just done. He twisted his neck and found Naruto's sleeping face; they were sharing a pillow. _Naruto snored: that was annoying._ But the snide thought felt half-hearted even in his own brain.

Sasuke reached down beside the bed, searching for his clothes. He found everything accept his own shirt and so reluctantly grabbed one of Naruto's. It was too big on him, it hung loosely from his neck to just below the pockets of his jeans. The t-shirt was so out of vogue, Sasuke thought, running the soft khaki fabric between his fingers, something Sasuke would never wear. What did it matter if his clothes were unfamiliar? If inside everything had changed.

As he schlepped home, Sasuke wondered if he was imagining the new tilt to the world. Things looked so divergent; even his front garden was almost unrecognisable to him. _Sex was just sex._ He kept telling himself, loads of people had sex with no strings attached for loads of different reasons: revenge, boredom, money, to chase the pain away…

It was only when feelings got involved that sex became complicated, when it had to be revisited and re-established. Sasuke closed his eyes as he let himself through his front door, desperate to get to his own bed.

When he stepped into the hallway through, he nearly fell flat on his face over a stack of half-full cardboard boxes.

"What the…" Sasuke pulled back the flaps on one of the boxes and peered inside. Photo albums of Sasuke and Itachi as babies and a few trinkets lined the bottom of the topmost box.

"Itachi, what's this?" Sasuke indicated the boxes as he poked his head around the living room door and found his brother sat on the sofa. Itachi jumped at Sasuke's voice and a look of relief spread across his tight face when he met Sasuke's eyes.

"You're back," he sighed and Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Don't wet yourself, Itachi, this is just temporary until I can fuck off to uni; now what're all these boxes?" Sasuke demanded.

"They're your mother and father's moving boxes," the woman named Izumi breezed in from behind Sasuke with a kindly smile.

" _Their what!?_ You're unbelievable Itachi! You're already booting us out!? Jesus Christ!" Sasuke threw his hands up and Itachi glanced at Izumi looking miffed.

"No, Sasuke, mum and dad have a week…"

"Oh, a week, well, I can hardly than you enough, what a Samaritan you are, Itachi!" Sasuke retorted waspishly and before Itachi could reply, Sasuke flipped him off and made for the stairs.

* * *

In his bedroom, Sasuke kicked his shoes off and threw himself down onto his bed, taking a deep, rattling breath. He had no family now. His friends had all deserted each other. After what had happened with Naruto the previous night, he didn't think he had Naruto anymore either…

He was entirely alone.

 _'_ _To see light fall into place, to smile until you unravel, to feel your fingers sting…To feel human again…'_

Sasuke reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out his wallet. Working his finger between the card compartments, he pulled out the little cellophane bag still filled with the gram of MXE. He held the snowy white drug up to his bedroom light; it looked so innocent, so pure, rather like icing sugar. Sasuke popped the bag open, he'd seen people roll up bank notes before and snort chemicals, but instead, he licked his finger before dabbing it into the powder. When he pulled it away, his fingertip was frosted with a thick coating of MXE, it was rather like how people ate sherbet. He pushed his finger to the back of his gum, ironically were his mother would have gushed his Midazolam, and scrubbed the drug into the pulpy flesh until he felt it dissolve.

Now he only need wait…

* * *

BOO, poor choices!


	10. Chapter 10: Colour Castle

Helloooo!

Firstly, thank you sooooo much for the reviews! You are all literal magic stars, I fricking love you guys!

Secondly, sorry this updates a late in the day! My excuses are long and rambling!

Hope you enjoy! :)

(I don't own Naruto)

* * *

Chapter 10.

Colour Castle.

Coming up on MXE was incredible. It was a Gatsby-huffing explosion of synaesthesia. Sasuke was superhuman in a different, awe-inspiring, kaleidoscopic realm. He was in a painite castle, a dew point sea, a sky with more stars than any man had ever known _. It was fucking amazing._

Then came the comedown, and suddenly, the come up, the colours and sparkly castles; none of it had been worth it. The spiral was like a million hits of Keppra all in one. The sinister thoughts that consumed Sasuke, thoughts of self-slaughter and harm, were unstoppable. He curled on his floor with his head between his knees and his hands clamped over his ears; muttering and whispering to himself, trying to beg his mind to stop tormenting him. This was why people became addicts, Sasuke thought, they took and took the drugs just to avoid the comedown until one day they just couldn't stop.

The absence seizures wouldn't stop wracking him either, until they evolved into myoclonic jerks, leaving his wrists shaking or twitching. Sasuke shook his head, pleading with his own body to stop, terrified of the onset of a full-blown tonic clonic seizure. He longed to shout for his mother, to have her comfort him, but he couldn't. Not only was Mikoto already preoccupied filling boxes with all of her worldly possessions – the ones that Itachi didn't now own – But Sasuke couldn't admit to his mother what he'd done.

* * *

At eight 'o' clock the next morning, the effects of the MXE seemed to be wearing off. Sasuke had spent half an hour in the bathroom with the bath taps on to disguise the sound of him violently vomiting into the toilet. By the time he was done, his palms were left with pressure marks from the floor tiles and his knees throbbed. Struggling to his feet, Sasuke flushed his mouth out with water and made his gradual descent to the kitchen.

When he arrived, he was unsurprised to find his family already awake and fighting. Itachi was pressed against the fridge, one arm wrapped defensively around Izumi as their father spat a tirade of uncivil abuse in their direction. Sasuke noted that his mother was nowhere to be seen.

"Morning train-wreck," Sasuke greeted; his face must've been blotchy and flushed from the strain of vomiting so much, his eyes bloodshot too, but nobody noticed.

"How can you do this to your mother?" Fugaku was snarling and Itachi eyed his father looking stony, his hand in Izumi's hair.

"Mum found out what you were doing and she still didn't try to stop you," Itachi replied, his voice level and firm.

"Don't mind me," Sasuke waved a hand as he reached for his Keppra. Swallowing his medication was difficult. Even though the effects of the MXE were long since over, there was a cold dripping down Sasuke's throat; like a bitter mucus kept repeating on him.

"Not now, Sasuke," Fugaku snapped and Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Because it isn't like your omni-fuck-up involves me in any way shape or form, right, well, now we've cleared that up; I'm off to college, my final exams are coming up this week, I'm sure everybody's forgotten…" Judging by the blank and sheepish looks on everybody's faces, they had all forgotten. "Fabulous," Sasuke nodded, shouldering past his father. "Well, I'll see you all when you decided which box to pack me and Aoda in," Sasuke snapped over his shoulder as he snatched up his bag and headed for the front door.

Never mind his useless family, he had to shake this comedown.

* * *

Bananas. Bananas were good for comedowns; that's what google had told him. If only Sasuke liked bananas, he lamented as he gnawed his way around the fruit in disgust. Much more of this and he was going to vomit again, he thought gloomily.

"Have you heard?" Sakura dumped herself into her usual seat beside him, whispering. This was their final Psychology lecture before their exam, and everybody was panic cramming, Sasuke included.

"Heard what?" Sasuke muttered, inspecting his teeth marks in the pulpous banana flesh, willing it to go down faster.

"About Sai, Ino, and Kankuro?" Sakura spoke under her breath and Sasuke shook his head, trying for a frown.

"They're not coming back to college for the exams," she told him, her brow creasing in a fearful little expression.

"What?" Sasuke screwed his face up in confusion.

"They aren't coming back; they're not going to get their A Levels," she said in a hushed voice, as though the very thought was terrifying.

"Sai and Ino?"

"Nobody's heard from them for days, not since that day, you know, with Kiba…" She inclined her head meaningfully and Sasuke nodded, watching as she pulled out her bullet journal. "I don't know what they're going to do; Lee says Sai was being sponsored to go to New Zealand; he doesn't think he'll turn it down, he says Sai will still leave," Sakura looked down at her perfect fingernails, a sensible length and painted a pretty blossom pink.

"Did he tell Lee that?" Sasuke inquired, watching her anxious face and Sakura glanced at him.

"No, like I said, nobody's spoken to either of them. All Lee knows was that Sai was set on going; Iwagakure School of Art is so elite and he doesn't think Sai's ready to be a dad either," Sakura shrugged, her face drawn tight as she passed Sasuke one of her glittery pink gel-pens to outline _Watson's Behavioural Psychology_.

"Ino's not exactly ready to be a mum, but she's gonna be one," Sasuke pointed out, bullet pointing a number of Watson's points.

"I'm not agreeing with Sai, Sasuke! I'm just telling you what Lee told me. Maybe you and Naruto could…"

"No." Sasuke replied flatly before Sakura could even finish; he and Naruto were no longer speaking. Their friendship – or whatever they had – was over, Sasuke had ruined it. "Our friends are just going to have to sort their own messes out for once."

* * *

 _Sleep. Eat. Revise. Repeat_. That was Sasuke's life these days, and yet he didn't feel any more prepared for his exams than he had when he'd started college. So, the night before Sasuke's first exam, he went to bed feeling sick.

At four in the morning however, he was re-awoken to the sound of a running engine and incensed shouting. He bolted upright in bed and sat listening hard.

"I'm ashamed to call you my son!" Had their howling really sprawled onto the front lawn? Sasuke twitched his curtains and saw his mother and father, Itachi and Izumi, Obito and presumably his wife Rin all spotted about on the lawn.

With a groan, Sasuke swung his legs over the edge of his bed and made his way to his unbelievable family.

"Everything that we gave you, we gave you _life,_ " Fugaku was hollering, Mikoto sobbing at his side.

"Are you lot for real?" Sasuke muttered, the grass was cool in the night breeze, tickling the soles of his bare feet. "You're like a load of hens all pecking each other, and you complain about White Hill being full of degenerates," Sasuke snorted, shooting a look in his father's direction.

"Sasuke," everybody looked stunned to see him there, and Sasuke stopped, feeling like he was under a spotlight.

"Don't look so surprised," Sasuke scoffed, "you were basically shrieking the whole neighbourhood down!" His eyes strayed to the van parked in their driveway and the suitcases leaning up against its side. "What's going on?" He asked slowly and there was a stretch of a few minutes in which nobody replied.

"Sasuke, mum and dad, their leaving," Itachi told him softly and Sasuke whipped around to look at them in alarm.

"What, in the morning? But I've got my exam! I'll miss it if I'm travelling with you two!" He pointed out indignantly. There was another pregnant silence, filled only by his mother's mournful little sobs.

"Mikoto, go to the van," Fugaku ordered and Sasuke's mother gazed up at her husband looking startled. "Mikoto!" She did as he said and scarpered in the direction of the van.

"What's going on?" Sasuke asked perplexedly, feeling extremely left out.

"You're not coming, Sasuke," Fugaku told him brusquely, "your mother and I, we both agree you'll be much better off here, it's much more stable here and that's what somebody like you needs." He was avoiding Sasuke's eye.

"Somebody like me?" Sasuke whispered, feeling his throat go dry. "What does that mean, dad?" Fugaku still didn't look at him, it was like he couldn't even bear to steel a look at his youngest son. "Dad, what does that mean!?" Sasuke cried, his chest jerking as a sob threatened. He didn't want to stay here with Itachi, with his fucked up friends, with Naruto…

"Mum!" He turned to head towards his mother in the van but somebody caught him.

"Don't, Sasuke," he glanced back and saw Itachi's pale fingers ringed around his upper arm.

"Get off me!" Sasuke gasped, trying to shake Itachi off. "Mum, mum! _Mummy, mum!_ " Sasuke cried, desperately trying to reach his mother; but with the aided support of Obito, Sasuke's every attempt was futile. "Please don't leave!" Sasuke begged, his voice breaking off in a sob. "I'm begging you, _don't leave me_!" He shouted towards his mother's window, but she didn't look at him, and she didn't get out of the van.

"Sasuke, that's enough!" Itachi pulled Sasuke back against him, and Sasuke watched his as his father walked away from him. He watched as Fugaku loaded the remaining suitcases into the van. Finally, he watched as his mother and father drove away and left him behind.

* * *

"I will never forgive you for this!" Sasuke roared as he blew back into the Uchiha home, closely followed by his anxious brother.

"Sasuke, wait…" Itachi caught him in the living room, clutching the hem of his t-shirt. "You need to listen to me!" Itachi hissed, looking frantic;

"You need to understand why we did what we did," he insisted and Sasuke gazed at his brother in disbelief; Itachi's countenance slightly marred with the tears still swimming in Sasuke's eyes.

"You want me to listen to you?" Sasuke choked, looking from Itachi, to Izumi, to Obito, to Rin, and then back again; all of them were pale and condoling looking. "Absolutely, fucking not!" He spluttered and began to turn away to leave the living room.

"They were going to marry us off, Sasuke," Itachi blurted out and Sasuke froze. When he slowly turned to face his brother, whose face was taught with desperation. "They arranged us both an endogamous marriage with the Hyuga family. I was engaged to Hinata Hyuga and you've been engaged to Hanabi Hyuga ever since you turned sixteen. We had no choice Sasuke, dad was using us, just like he uses everything else, he was using his own kids to make a business deal." Itachi explained, his voice fraught with a feverishness. "There was no way you could've had a future of your own. Then mum found out, she didn't like it, but she does anything dad says and she let him get away with it, Sasuke, she let him use us like bargaining chips." Itachi insisted, reaching out and grasping Sasuke's numb fingers.

"Dad did what?" Sasuke mumbled, feeling dizzy.

"He robbed you of your future Sasuke, or at least he tried to," Itachi explained, peering into Sasuke's stunned eyes. "But now, you can choose your own future, Sasuke," Itachi assured him and Sasuke blinked slowly, as though emerging from a dream.

"What?" He pulled his hands away from Itachi. "I…I have to go to bed…" He mumbled, "…I have an exam in the morning…" He staggered back from his brother.

"O-okay, Sasuke," Itachi nodded, straightening up.

* * *

Sasuke sat absolutely catatonic on his bed. He'd promised himself never again. Not after that comedown which had fucked with his head so catastrophically. If his promise had meant so much to him, then why did he already have his finger in the remaining dregs of MXE? He would have to go to his exam high. He was stupid anyway, he thought as he scrubbed the drug into his gum so hard the flesh began to bleed.

This was what stupid people did.

People like him, as his father put it…

* * *

Ooooh nuuu, more poor choices! Waaah! Review please, if that's okay? :D x


	11. Chapter 11: Drop

Hello! Thank you for all the reviews sugars, oodles and stroodles of love!

So, I've uploaded two chapters tonight ooola, but this chapter won't make sense without the previous one (Chapter 10: Colour Castle.) So please read that one first :)

This chapter is uber dramatic! :O

It's also a bit shorter than the others...But I think you'll get why when you read it? It's not exactly like the others...

Anywhoozles, enjoy chaps and chapettes!

(I don't own Naruto)

* * *

Chapter 11.

Drop.

Sasuke was jittering in the kitchen that morning; he'd spent the entirety of the past year taking pills to prevent him convulsing, and now he'd deliberately dropped chemicals to inspire the tremors. It was like he'd shed his dull, defective skin, and was watching the world lap in some kind of bi-time-lapse. He couldn't suppress bouts of inexplicable and manic giggling either at nothing in-particular. He'd spent twenty-minutes in hysterical laughter, watching the way Aoda swallowed a dead mouse.

"Morning Sasuke," Itachi greeted from behind him, sounding tentative.

"Yo," Sasuke replied in the same deliriously mirth filled tone he'd used when he'd cooed at Aoda. Itachi looked taken aback and then unnerved.

"Are you alright?" He asked slowly and Sasuke nodded aggressively.

He couldn't control his jaw, it had a mind of its own; he just kept grinding his teeth like he was chewing on a phantom gobstopper.

"Brilliant," He nodded, gripping the countertops so hard, he didn't even notice his fingernails bending backwards, the stress to his nailbeds turning his fingers white and blotchy.

"Have you taken your pills?" Itachi inquired worriedly, pulling down a strip of Sodium Valporate and Sasuke shook his head violently.

"Pills _, pills,_ no, I'll take pills," he discounted the pills into his trembling hands and slammed them down his throat. What were more pills on top of his already toxic stomach? His insides were already pickled with prescribed chemicals, he was more pharmaceutical than man.

"Sasuke…Isn't your exam today?" Itachi asked, just as Izumi appeared looking sprightly and shot Sasuke a sweet smile.

"Which exam is that?" She asked, sounding genuinely interested, much to Sasuke's surprise.

"Math," Sasuke told her, only then realising he was gnawing his lip which tasted coppery; although oddly he felt no pain, in fact, he felt no sensation at all.

"Sasuke, you really don't look well," Itachi observed, glancing from Izumi and then back to Sasuke.

"Here," Izumi was proffering a glass of orange juice at Sasuke.

 _"_ _No!"_ Sasuke barked, pushing the glass away so that the contents splashed over both of them. The strength of his reaction startled them both, Sasuke could usually control himself in the presence of others, could compact all of his contempt into one small snide dig.

"Whoops, sorry, Sasuke," Izumi turned away quickly, but Sasuke could see that her whole face was burning scarlet.

He just didn't want to like her, that was all: _it's not you, Izumi, he wanted to tell her,_ it's everything you stand for.

"Sasuke, if you're not well enough to go…"

"I'm not a fucking invalid, Itachi!" Sasuke shouted, turning his attention to his brother. "Now, I've got an exam to go to." He said in a much more composed voice.

Itachi eyed him unconvinced as Sasuke considered food, and then felt the MXE in him reject the very idea with a great lurch in his gut.

"Well, good luck, Sasuke, call me when you're done."

"Yeah, sure," Sasuke said without any conviction or intent behind the statement, already on his way out of the kitchen.

* * *

On his walk to college, things had already started to go wrong. The shadows of the sycamores on the ground became contorted and began to look like grotesque fingers. The sky began to swim and take on a strange wriggling look, like bacteria under a microscope. A rose tint kept descending over the world and then dripping away like jam. Then came the paranoid and disturbing thoughts…

"Sasuke, you alright?" Temari whacked him on the head with her ruler when he finally made it to the exam hall. He nearly lurched into the bush bordering the building at her touch with a small cry. "Jesus, sorry!" She threw her hands up looking incredulous. "Whose after you?"

"What?" Sasuke after, twitching and scratching behind his ear compulsively.

"You look like somebody's about to hunt you down and tackle you!" She pointed out.

"Do I? Exam nerves," he dismissed.

"Alright?" Naruto joined them, greeting Temari and offering Sasuke a little nod.

Naruto's presence only made Sasuke's state of horror and derangement intensify.

"You were supposed to wait for us!" Sakura, Lee and Shikamaru panted, jogging to catch up to Naruto.

"Yeah, sorry," Naruto laughed, scratching behind his head.

Sasuke caught his own head in his hands, grasping his temples he began to mutter to himself under his breath.

"Seriously, Sasuke, what's going on?" Temari caught him by the arm.

"Don't touch me!" He barked, his voice unnaturally throaty from the mucus drip in the back of his oesophagus.

"Okay, okay," she dropped her hand and he could feel all their friends watching him, alarmed and wary. "Hey, I've got something to tell you after this exam," she tried brightly and Sasuke started, narrowing his eyes at her. What had she done now? Who had messed up now? Who was leaving him now?

"What, what is it? Tell me! Tell me now!" He insisted, his voice rising to almost manic heights and he noted as panic flared in Temari's eyes.

"Sasuke, I think you should…" Naruto began from beside Temari, but the gym hall doors flew open and everybody fell silent.

A bald examiner stepped out, and called: "This is for everybody sitting the A Level Higher GAC Mathematics paper," he surveyed all of the silent students and Sasuke shifted his weight from one foot to the other repeatedly, trying to shift the sudden burst of energy that had hit him. "You'll be called in alphabetical order, once inside, you will have one hour to complete your paper. If you are caught with your mobile phone or any cheat sheets, this will be reported to the exam board and you may face disqualification. If you talk or cause disruption during the exam, this will also result in potential disqualification…"

Sasuke knew it all already, he just needed to get in that hall.

* * *

Inside, and all Sasuke could hear was the scratching of pens on paper. His own pen felt like led in his tingling arm. He couldn't make out the words on the page, he hadn't even managed to write his name. It felt like he might've been drooling; his jaw was hurting so much from the constant chewing.

Why couldn't he do this exam?

Because he was stupid.

 _'_ _somebody like you…'_

Sasuke cracked his neck, trying to get his father's voice out of his head; his legs were so restless under the desk that his knees had begun to throb.

 _'_ _booze-muddled waster of a kid…'_

Sasuke used the heel of his hand to smack his forehead, trying to get the voices out of his mind.

 _'_ _To see light fall into place, to smile until you unravel, to feel your fingers sting…To feel human again…'_

 _'_ _Orochimaru can always, always, hear when a heart stops…'_

Sasuke began to grind his knuckles into his temples, squirming with discomfort in his seat.

 _'_ _I'm afraid you haven't responded to the Sodium Valporate…'_

Sasuke let out a soft groan and dug his fingernails into his forehead and shook his head, willing the thoughts to go away.

 _'_ _They were going to marry us off, Sasuke…'_

 _'_ _She let him use us like bargaining chips…'_

He could feel Sakura staring at him in horror to his left.

 _'_ _I am never going to get to leave White Hill, I'll never be here with you again.'_

"No, no, no…! He began to mutter and whimper, clutching at the sides of his head and curling in on himself.

 _'_ _Mum, mum! Mummy, mum!'_

"FUCK!" Sasuke was on his feet, his fingers under the underside of his desk seat, he turned the whole thing and flung it. "FUCK, FUCK, FUCK!" He screamed, gripping onto his hair and shrieking incoherently. He glimpsed his friends springing to their feet and the examiners rushing forwards."FUCK!" He thought he might vomit he was howling so loudly.

"Sasu…" He on caught a flash of Naruto, before he fell…

Sasuke hit the floor…

He went down. In front of the whole hall. And began to convulse…

* * *

Sad times...Sasukes having a tonic clonic...Very sad times :(...Please review :)


	12. Chapter 12: Time to Grow-Up

Hellooo! Chapter 12!

Thank you sooo much for your reviews! I literally love how much everybody engages with the story, it makes the whole thing feel so validated? I love them!

Such a wholesome chapter from Naruto's POV.

Hope you enjoy!

(I don't own Naruto)

* * *

Chapter 12.

Time to Grow-Up.

Naruto lay flat on his back, tossing one of Kurama's jingly balls up in the air, catching it, and then repeating. He was half twisted in his sweat drenched sheets, his pillow vertical beneath his head and neck. Fully clothed in the outfit he'd been wearing for two days, he had his mobile phone resting on the mattress beside his head, so close that wisps of his blonde hair glued themselves to the dull screen.

He felt despondent and haunted by the memory of Thursday's Maths exam. Every time he closed his eyes, even in the millisecond it took to blink, it seemed he had Sasuke's convulsing form stamped on the insides of his eyelids. He kept recalling the way in which Sasuke's back had arched and his hands had furled inwards. A thick, carmine spume had pooled in Sasuke's mouth and edged between his lips. They'd all panicked then, wondering where the blood was coming from; they'd since learnt that Sasuke had clamped his teeth down so ferociously on the inside of his mouth, that he'd filled his cheeks with saliva and blood. His pretty eyes, portals for complexity and Naruto's craving, had rolled back completely in their sockets.

When he'd come around, he hadn't been conscious, not really, or at least he hadn't been lucid. He'd lay on the varnished wooden floor in his own spit and blood, garbling a stream of nonsense words until the paramedics arrived.

None of them had spoken to Sasuke since that day. It wasn't for lack of trying either, but Sasuke had either rejected or ignored all of their calls and wouldn't let anybody into the hospital, not even his own brother. Naruto had tried to call Sasuke every hour without fail, leaving him a stream of pleading messages, begging him to answer his phone, just to let him know if he was okay. He hadn't received a reply, although he knew Sasuke was reading all of his messages on Facebook; didn't Sasuke know they showed the sending party when the receiver had read their message?

He let out a low, shaky breath as he caught the ball and clasped it against his chest. What was Sasuke playing at? He wondered, glancing towards the mosaic of photos on his bedroom wall; almost all of them had Sasuke in them. In some of the pictures Sasuke's smile was posed, in others he'd been caught off guard and his grin was organic, so angelic it made Naruto's chest hurt. Everything about Sasuke was delicate and lovely, like he'd been sketched with fine inks and the rest of the world daubed with heavy markers.

"Naruto?" There came a sharp knocking at his door and Naruto scrunched his eyes tight shut.

"Not now, mum," he replied through gritted teeth, but she ignored him and barged into his box room. He saw that her overcoat was covered in ginger fur, she must've been grooming Kurama; a monthly and potentially lethal occurrence.

"What's this?" She brandished a piece of paper, so wrinkled and flimsy looking, it had obviously been screwed up and smoothed out again. Naruto's heart sunk when he recognised his conditional acceptance letter to university.

"Rubbish," he muttered, beginning his game of catch with Kurama's toy again.

"Rubbish!? This is your acceptance letter to university, Naruto Uzamaki!" Kushina clamoured and Naruto scowled.

"Yeah, I'm not going, I've got an apprenticeship down the scrap yard…You and dad can't afford for me to leave," Naruto said with a falsely casual shrug. "So that's that," he dismissed.

 _Wham._

"AH! Mother, what was that for you lunatic!?" Naruto bolted upright, clutching his throbbing skull; Kushina had just lobbed the novelty yard glass he'd procured from last year's beer festival.

"Don't you talk absolute bilge, Naruto!" She seethed and there was the sound of hurried footsteps on the landing. Naruto's father Minato, bobbed up behind Kushina looking fretful.

"What's happened?" He asked quickly; he was still dressed in his hotel uniform, although the fact that it looked so depleted told Naruto that Minato was just coming off shift, not going on one.

"Our son has decided to pack university in" Kushina roared, looking for something else to throw. "Because he thinks he needs to stay here and look after us!"

"What?" Minato looked baffled, clutching his wife's arm to stop her hurling an empty tank which had once contained sea monkeys, straight at Naruto's face. "But that's ridiculous Naruto," Minato shook his head.

"But it isn't," Naruto retorted miserably, "it's just how White Hill goes."

"Oh, for goodness sake you little martyr! White Hill is the kind of place where success stories come from, you absolute buffoon! Who wants to hear about the little rich kid who made it? People want to hear about the kid who went from nothing to something, because it makes them believe they can do the same – just like you used to!" Kushina snapped, her eyes blazing. "Do you think your father and I will be happy if you stick around here? We want you to succeed Naruto, that's our dream!" She ranted and Naruto watched her. "So, you go to university willingly, or I'll drag you there and abandon you in a Moses basket on the doorstep!" She threatened, eyeing him beadily. "Do you understand me, Naruto…" However, Naruto was already up and off his bed, and had flung his arms around both of his parents.

"Yeah, I understand…"

* * *

It was three in the afternoon when Naruto's front door went.

"Hang on!" Naruto hopped down the stairs and lunged for the door handle, wrenching the it wide.

"Hi." Naruto froze, Sai and Shikamaru stood on his doorstep looking anxious and uncomfortable, although anticipating a punch.

"Hi," Naruto replied warily, glancing between each of them.

They shuffled on the spot for a moment before Shikamaru finally spoke.

"Drink?"

They sat on the sloping, heather spread embankment. The grass looked tanned and firey under the late afternoon sun, and was so long that when they sat down it tickled their shoulders. Naruto stared out over the lake in front of them, twinkling pure-white in patches as it caught the sunlight. Only weeks ago, he'd phoned Sasuke from this very embankment, asking to meet him, and Sasuke had come.

"Are you gonna stick around then, for Ino and your kid?" Naruto directed at Sai, holding his bottle of ale away from him as the white froth edged over the lip of the bottle.

Sai looked surprised at his bluntness, and then his face turned pensive.

"I really, really wanted it, you know, that art degree?" He murmured, "I was never going to leave her, I was going to stay with her long distance; but maybe I was cruel about it." He frowned down at his own drink and shook his head. "I was definitely cruel, what she did, I get it." He confessed. "I'd never leave her, I love her; so, especially now, I won't leave her." He murmured and Shikamaru caught Naruto's eye, raising his eyebrows.

"So that's it for your art degree?" Shikamaru asked and Sai nodded taking a swig of his ale.

"Yep, that's it," he acknowledged and Naruto let out a low whistle.

"Just like that."

"Just like that." Sai echoed and they fell silent.

"I've joined the army," Shikamaru piped up and both Sai and Naruto choked.

"You what?" Naruto spluttered, "you've joined the army? The actually army?" Like war and shit?" Naruto ogled him and Shikamaru nodded looking thoughtful.

"Yeah, I leave for West Germany two weeks post-Glastonbury," he admitted, tearing up a chunk of grass, "crazy right?"

"Fucking crazy! You're going to go to war, Shikamaru," Sai stared at Shikamaru as though he'd sprouted three heads.

"Once I'm done with training, maybe," he shrugged and Naruto wondered how he could be so cavalier about this. He'd known Shikamaru for years, lazy, chilled out, passive, Shikamaru; how could that boy have enlisted?

"What about Temari?" Sai asked and Shikamaru's face turned unreadable.

"I'm not allowed to talk about that – not until she's spoken to Sasuke; you know what those two are like, but he won't answer any of her calls. She's a fucking wreck," Shikamaru's face contorted. "What about you, have you had any luck?" He inquired and Naruto shook his head regretfully.

"Nothing, I keep trying, but nothing." He told them miserably.

"I can't believe we missed it," Sai sighed, rubbing his face ferociously, "I can't believe that Sasuke was going through that much – was that unhappy – and we all missed it, we were too wrapped up in our own shit. The worst part is, Ino told me she saw Sasuke at the doctors and that he looked weird, like out of it, I feel like I could've done something." Sai whispered, shaking his head. There was a pause before Shikamaru spoke in a tight voice, staring straight out across the lake.

"You're not the only one, we found him – Temari and I – in a proper state, behind the wheel of his car, he'd nearly crashed it speeding, we never found out why he did it, I don't know why we never tried harder to find out." Naruto felt his stomach twist, this was all news to him, all horrible, gut-wrenching news.

"There's a lot of stuff we probably could've done in hindsight," Naruto finally muttered. "But Sasuke's not innocent in this either, he hid everything from us; we need to start being more honest with each other." Naruto spoke firmly and Sai and Shikamaru gave general murmurs of agreement.

Naruto sat thinking for a moment, about the advice he'd just given, and about Sasuke and where his secret keeping had landed him.

"I'm gay," he divulged in a rush, feeling tense all over.

Shikamaru and Sai whipped around to focus on him, wide eyed.

"Huh?" Shikamaru fixed his gaze on him, "gay?" he tilted his head, eyeing Naruto with an assessing look and then he nodded. "Yeah, I guess." He smiled and Sai leant back on his hands.

"Is it Sasuke?" Sai asked, gazing up into the sky, as a falcon circled.

"Yes," Naruto confessed, watching the birds spiralling progress.

It wasn't his place to divulge Sasuke's secret any further, however, but he could tell his friends, he could be brave.

"Wow, so I'm gonna be a dad, you're going to be a soldier, and you're off to uni," Sai grinned at Shikamaru and Naruto who laughed. "Time to grow up," he smiled, taking a deep swig from his bottle.

"Time to grow up," the others echoed.

 _Time to grow up._

Naruto got to his feet, brushing long-grass from his jeans and dry earth from his cuffs.

"You off somewhere?" Shikamaru asked, raising his eyebrows inquisitively.

"Yeah; I'm gonna go see Sasuke _, whether he wants me there or not_ …"

* * *

Oooh cliffhangers!


	13. Chapter 13: Brave

Helloo! Another chapter, woo!

So, basically, this a a hugely wet-wipey little caption now and you are free to ignore it! _Basically_ , I don't know how many people guessed reading this but I (author person writing this) actually have epilepsy - yass, the full blown condition! Lucky for me I have a whole team of amazing friends, family and a fiance. BUT! It's still just the shittiest condition, and all of the medications I wrote about (not including the illegal ones) I myself have been on! So basically, every time I get a message off one of you guys saying how you've read this story and it's made your realise how serious epilepsy is, or just talking about epilepsy, or telling me how my own writing is highlighting the condition literally has turned me into such a melt. So yeah, I literally love you guys and you're free to move on from my gushing monologue now! XD

This chapter is just so full of feels!

Enjoy!

(don't own Naruto)

* * *

Chapter 13.

Brave.

Sasuke drew his knees halfway to his chest, laying on his side, the papery sheets of the hospital cot rustled beneath him. Everything was sterile, the bed was sterile, the walls were sterile, the cannula in his hand was sterile, _he_ was sterile. He sniffed, feeling pathetic, he hadn't stopped crying for days it felt like; tears just kept escaping him, pitiful desolate tears. He felt twisted, like all of his muscles had been tied into knots, it was agony, even with the oromorph. He had stitches on the insides of his cheeks where he had bitten them so badly, his scabby tongue felt raw against his scarecrow cheeks. His forehead was stained an unpleasant tangerine colour where the medical staff had poured iodine over a nasty wound he'd sustained upon his collapse.

"Mr. Uchiha, are you awake?" Sasuke swiped his tears away hurriedly at the sound of people approaching.

"Y-yeah," he called back, his voice was slurred now that the inside of his mouth was so swollen.

The blue curtains around his bed edged back ever so slightly and two women appeared: Tsunade and a woman he'd never seen before.

"Hello Sasuke, how're you feeling?" Tsunade eyed him looking sympathetic and Sasuke only nodded. "This is a colleague of mine at the hospital, Dr. Biwako Saratobi," she indicated the smaller, wispier looking woman who smiled kindly down at Sasuke, the deep lines chased into her face drawing tight.

"Hi," he mumbled, not moving as they pulled up seats at his bedside.

"Biwako would like to talk to you, Sasuke," Tsunade said softly, with a honeyed smile and Sasuke's eyes strayed from her to the woman.

"Hn," he acknowledged.

"Hello, Sasuke, I'd like to discuss a medication called Sertraline with you," she told him softly and slowly.

"Huh? Isn't the Valporate working? I told you what I did – why I had the seizure," Sasuke rambled, panicking and Tsunade held her hands up, exchanging a quick look with her colleague.

"No, Sasuke," she reassured him calmly, "Sertraline isn't an epilepsy drug," she told him gently. "Biwako's from our community mental health team." She explained and Sasuke started.

"What?" He screwed his face up, "I don't get it…"

"Sometimes, Sasuke," Biwako interjected, "when we have problems with our brains, they can spark a whole host of other problems with various transmitters. It is very common that people with your kind of condition experience difficulties with their mental health. And Sertraline is a mood stabiliser that can help with that." Sasuke stared at the two-woman wide eyed and then groaned, turning his face into his pillow.

"It isn't anything to be ashamed of, or frightened of, Sasuke," Tsunade assured benevolently.

"Absolutely not," Biwako agreed and Sasuke peered at them. "What matters now Sasuke, is how we go forward from here and how we can help _you_." She smiled kindly, "sound good?" Sasuke eyed them both.

"Yeah…Yeah, it does."

* * *

Sasuke was back to laying on his side, gazing up at his drip, counting the little beads feeding down the tube into his veins, falling like rain. So, he was going on happy pills. Maybe it wasn't the worst thing in the world, he thought idly; for once, somebody seemed worried about the content of his mind, not the broken elements of his brain.

He heard the curtains twitch again and sighed; Biwako was already back to discuss his Sertraline dosage with him. They were checking that it would work alongside his Sodium Valporate, and wouldn't interfere with the epilepsy treatment.

"Sasuke?" Sasuke's heart skipped and he flipped onto his back.

Naruto was approaching him so slowly, it was like his calves were stuck in cement.

"Go away!" Sasuke snapped, yanking his bed sheets up; he felt incredibly vulnerable and exposed in just a hospital gown. Not to mention, he was sure there were red, shiny patches on his face where he had wept. "I said get out!" He insisted, his voice cracking, his voice still thick with puffy flesh.

Naruto did not leave, instead he stopped and surveyed Sasuke, his eyes dark with fear.

"Sasuke, I'm not leaving," he said finally, his voice hoarse.

Sasuke held his gaze and then bit his lip, covering his eyes with his arm as he tried to press any treacherous tears back. _Of course Naruto wasn't going anywhere._

"I want you to tell me why you did what you did, I want you to tell me everything," Naruto insisted, rounding Sasuke's bed and sitting on the edge, so that Sasuke felt it sink.

"It's not important," Sasuke said automatically.

"It is."

"It really isn't," Sasuke shook his head, dropping his arm from his face.

Sasuke met Sasuke's eyes, his own unreadable and he caught Sasuke's hand in his own.

"This is _you_ ," He pressed down in the middle of Sasuke's palm, "And this is _me_ ," he began to trace a circle around the pressure point, in an orbiting oscillation. "You are the centre of my universe, Sasuke Uchiha; every time you eat a bowl of cornflakes, it's important to me." He smiled, reaching up to touch Sasuke's cheek. Sasuke snorted and began to laugh, but the laughter became strained and descended into sobbing; the kind of uncontrollable, noisy, crying that wrenches your chest apart and breaks you open. Sasuke did tell Naruto everything, every stupid, fucked up detail.

"I've messed everything up," he choked and Naruto shook his head quickly looking frightened.

"No, no you haven't," he insisted.

"I'm fucked up." Sasuke moaned and Naruto grinned at this.

"Jesus Sasuke, has it taken you this long to realise, everybody's fucked up. Everybody's just a little bit fucked up, in their own way; too sick, too poor, too rich, too creative, not creative enough, in love, out of love…Everybody's doing it, everybody's fucked, Sasuke, and you can never see it. You own it though, being fucked up is what makes you human, not defining yourself by your fuck-ups, that's when you've won." Naruto ran his hand over the back of Sasuke's head, "and having a whole load of other fuck-ups to share the load with, that's when it's fun!" he smiled leaning close to Sasuke and Sasuke blinked, hiccupping. "Everybody is fucked-up Sasuke, there's nothing wrong with you, your fucked-up imperfections are just what make you perfect to me," he leant his forehead against Sasuke's and closed his eyes, "they're why I love you." Sasuke inhaled sharply.

What did Sasuke do now? Did he keep running? Did he turn away? Did he try and silence Naruto?

"I love you too," he breathed, watching his breath stir strands of Naruto's golden hair.

 _He was going to be brave, fucked-up and brave; because that's who he was._

* * *

"You're home, I was just going to drop off…" Itachi had a bag slung over his shoulder as Sasuke let himself into the hallway.

"Hi," Sasuke turned to face his brother full on.

"Hi, how're you feeling?" Itachi asked looking edgy and Sasuke shrugged.

"I've been on better form," he admitted with a sheepish grin. "Where's Izumi?" He peered behind his brother, as though expecting her to be hiding there.

"I…I sent her back to her parent's, I didn't think she should stay if you were uncomfortable…" Itachi trailed off, the strain in his face apparent and Sasuke felt his stomach tighten.

"Itachi, we need to talk," Sasuke said, taking a deep breath and Itachi's face drained and he nodded, dropping the bag he'd been holding on the floor.

"Yeah, I know," he said quietly.

"I know why you did what you did," Sasuke said in a rush, "I know you were just being kind; what dad did was fucking twisted and you're right, mum would've gone along with whatever dad said." He continued. "But, I'm not you, Itachi." Sasuke locked eyes with his brother. "I'm not you; I'm not amazingly clever, it takes me ages to get things, I am sick, I do go out and get wasted, I can't cope with shit like everybody else can, and I'm in love with a guy…" He held his breath. "But you've got your shit too, Itachi; and not being you, that's not a bad thing. Not being clever, it means I know the feeling when I work my guts out and it to pays off, you don't. Being sick, it's shit, but I'm getting better. Getting wasted, you know what, that's actually fucking brilliant, my friends are _fucking brilliant_. And being in love with a guy; I'm in love and that's amazing!" He laughed and Itachi blinked looking stunned. "So, I'm not you Itachi, but that's fine." Sasuke grinned, reaching for his messenger bag and Itachi nodded, a slight smile playing at his lips.

"Where're you going, Sasuke?" He asked as Sasuke made towards the front door.

"University, Glastonbury, the pub, who the fuck knows, Itachi…" He seized the door handle and glanced back. "Oh, and for the love of God, get Izumi back here, I can't live with just you in this bloody house."

Sasuke fled before Itachi could form a comeback and hurried up the front path.

"Yo, what took you so long?" Naruto craned his neck out of his Fiesta window.

"Just delivering a lengthy monologue to my brother," Sasuke shrugged, launching his bag at Naruto's face. "Now take me somewhere, boyfriend…"

* * *

To be concluded... D: ONE MORE CHAPTER!


	14. Chapter 14: Sand

Boohoo, the last chapter.

HOWEVER! I am thinking about doing a sequel called: _The Prospect of Weird. **So, update on that; go to the next chapter and there's part of the sequel. I figure there's still things to answer, so I will in that!**_

I'm going to a festival this week so it won't be up until next week, but when it's up I'll post a link here :)

Hope you enjoy the final chapter, boohoo again...

Thank you for all the reviews and for sticking with this story, means the absolute world, so much love!

* * *

Chapter 14.

Sand.

"Itachi, why didn't you just take my car? There's no room in this weeny little contraption!" Sasuke groused, shuffling about irritably.

The day had come to transport all of Sasuke's possessions, including Sasuke, to university. Sasuke was stuffed in the front of the car with his duvet and kept disappearing beneath folds of goose-down.

"Because I'm not insured on your car, for the eighth time, Sasuke," Itachi reminded him patiently.

" _I'm not insured on your car_ ," Sasuke mimicked mockingly and then craned his neck around to check on Izumi in the back. "How you holding up, Iz?" He inquired and she grimaced in response. She was submerged beneath a toaster, a sea of plates and was clasping an egg timer like an orb and a fork like a septer. "Looking good," he gave her a thumbs up.

"Oh, shut up," she scoffed and Sasuke grinned, "just because you took the _soft_ , option, Sasuke," she winked, nodding towards the duvet and Sasuke groaned.

"Oh Iz, that was awful even for you; look, even Itachi's not laughing and he even mustered a chuckle at that diabolical flip-flop pun you came out with the other day." Sasuke sighed and ducked as Izumi made to swat him from the back seat.

"I say we fly-tip him on the side of the road," Izumi suggested with a playful smirk and Sasuke leant an arm back to knock the egg timer flying out of her hand.

* * *

Sasuke stood in his bare box like room; so, this was where he would be staying, this was his new dormitory in his halls of residence. For the first time that day, he felt nervous as he stared around at all of his worldly goods packed up in cases around the office like bedroom.

"Well, this is deeply depressing," Itachi commented and Izumi elbowed him in the ribs.

"He's right, it is incredibly depressing," Sasuke agreed fairly, admiring the thin brown carpet. "But it won't be once I've set all my stuff up."

"How many pictures of Aoda did you bring?" Itachi asked, looking incredulously down at a deck of photographs lining the inside of a shoebox.

"Not enough!" Sasuke snapped; he was still gutted that the snake wouldn't be able to live with him until he moved into a rental property in the second year. "And you look after him, I'll know if you've been neglecting him – Izumi will tell me!" Sasuke warned, narrowing his eyes. Itachi just held his hands up looking exasperated.

"Have you got your timetable?" Izumi pressed, looking anxious.

"They don't release them until fresher's week," Sasuke told her.

"And you've got enough food and medication?"

"Yes and yes," he told her; she looked on the brink of tears.

"And you'll be responsible and safe?" She said in a high-pitched voice.

"They're almost synonyms of the very same thing, Iz, but yeah, sure," He rolled his eyes.

"Okay, well," she pulled him into a bone crushing hug and Sasuke pursed his lips.

"Oh for goodness sake, Iz," he muttered into the top of her head, but smiled nonetheless. It took her a good few, exceptionally weepy minutes to relinquish her hold on him. When Itachi stepped forwards, like he might try and hug him, Sasuke whipped out a rolled-up gaming manual and thwacked Itachi on the nose. "Try that again and it won't be your nose next time." He warned and Itachi scoffed, stepping back.

"And you'll FaceTime us every other day?" Izumi insisted and Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"Wow, every other day, Iz, not every day?"

"Well, I didn't want to come across as overbearing," she admitted timidly and Sasuke swapped an incredulous look with Itachi.

"You, overbearing, Izumi? _No_."

* * *

When Itachi and Izumi finally left him, the loneliness hit Sasuke like a tonne of bricks. He could hear his flatmates congregating in the corridor outside, introducing themselves, but couldn't bring himself to join them. Instead he gazed down at a picture of him and all of his friends from back home, the craving for familiarity was painful. Did they all feel this way too?

His phone went and Sasuke lunged for it.

 _'Beach.'_

He was on his feet in seconds, shoving his feet into the nearest shoes, not wholly sure they even matched; he was out of the door. Sprinting across his campus and through his new town, Sasuke's mind began to race. Everything was different now, and everything would continue to change because that was just how the world worked. Sai wasn't going to go to art school anymore, but he was going to have a baby with the woman he loved. Shikamaru had joined the army, and weeks before leaving for West Germany, he and Temari had fled to Gretna Green to elope; she was in Germany with him. Sakura and Lee had taken a spontaneous gap year to go travelling around Asia. Nothing was as they had planned it, but everything was okay nonetheless. Maybe things had only ever hurt so much because they made these futile little plans in the first place, and then attached so much insignificant meaning to them. If they simply let themselves move in the directions their paths took them without preconceived ideas of their futures, maybe they would be much happier.

It didn't matter anymore, because right then, in that moment; Sasuke was finally happy. It didn't matter that his brain was broken. It didn't matter about his mother and father. It didn't matter that he was fucked-up. Because, at the end of it all, somebody loved him for it all.

Sasuke stepped onto the sand of Bournemouth beach and scanned the shoreline, the white sea scum, throwing itself around his ankles. A small distance from him, he saw Naruto stood, his loping grace unmistakable, as he gazed out across the sea. Sasuke picked up his pace and began to sprint towards Naruto, sand picking up and clinging to the fabric of his clothes.

Naruto turned just in time to see Sasuke throw his arms around his neck. He caught Sasuke around the waist, with a little cry of elated surprise, and staggered backwards. Sasuke's feet vanished under the water and he felt the sea suck his shoe under as Naruto heaved him up. Laughing and smiling, Sasuke tightened his legs around Naruto's waist and pressed his forehead to Naruto's.

"You finally made it, then," Sasuke observed with a wry grin.

"I finally made it," Naruto nodded, placing both hands on either side of Sasuke's face.

People were passing them by, they could've been witnesses, but Sasuke didn't care anymore. Who he loved didn't define him, it was that he _could_ love that defined him.

"Good, I was starting to worry you'd dropped off the edge of a mountain or something," Sasuke smiled, feeling the sand on Naruto's fingertips graze his cheeks.

"Nope," he eyed Sasuke, "I love you, you incredible fuck-up." He grinned and Sasuke tilted his head before leaning down to kiss Naruto and murmur against his lips.

"I love you too."

 _The end._


	15. Chapter 15: The Prospect of Weird

Hello!

So, I said I would do a sequel, and it will be posted in a separate story, but still a continuation of The History of Normal; however, I'm posting here a snippet sort of? Of the sequel itself!

There's a hella stuff that still needs resolving :O

Like I mentioned in the previous chapter, the story will be called, The Prospect of Weird.

It's set in Sasuke's final year of university, so he's doing that dissertation thaaang and independence gig...Fewf, the pressure...

Anyway, enjoy this little looksy thing :D

* * *

Sasuke sat hunched in the centre of his and Naruto's bed. Parts of the sheets were sabulous with sand that abraded Sasuke's bare ankles. He couldn't understand why there was sand in his bed; he hadn't made it out of the lightless bedroom to the beach with his boyfriend in weeks.

He turned his attention back to his Mac-book, hovering his fingers over the heightened keys. _Nothing came._ He had a month left to complete his dissertation, a month to coagulate reams of survey data and study results to write into tables. Just once month to write ten-thousand words, and nothing was coming.

Sasuke's hand strayed distractedly towards his chilly bicep; they didn't keep the heating on in the house, it only added to the bills. Absentmindedly, he began to drive his fingernails into the gash he'd opened trying to pry _that_ splinter from his flesh. He picked and pulled at his skin, focusing on the pain and warmth of his own body as he did so. He winced as he drove his thumb into the wound like a screw, only widening the hole so that when he pulled his hand away, it looked like there was a gaping carmine quagmire chased into his arm, glittering with cuprite. _The pain was all he need focus on._

Something mild, like water gone lukewarm, dribbled over his knee. Sasuke came to his senses and wrenched his hand away from himself, sitting on his fingers to prevent any further attempts at self-mutilation. The warm trickling had been blood, his blood, weeping out from the laceration he'd carved into his arm.

 _"_ _Shit,"_ Sasuke whispered, going onto his knees, holding his arm above his head gingerly as he looked beneath him. Where he had sat moments before, spots of blood now tarnished the powder blue bed sheets. Sasuke bent down and tried to rub the blood away, but only succeeded in making a sanguine mess.

He'd ruined the bed sheets. The first set of bed sheets he and Naruto had ever bought together…

* * *

Hope you enjoyed that little look at The Prospect of Weird, and will read it when it's published! :D


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